Concert for Ukraine

Featuring internationally acclaimed musicians Alina Bzhezhinska & HipHarpCollective, Tony Kofi, Niki King, Jo Harrop, Alex Webb, GéNIA, Mariia Petrovska and celebrating Ukrainian writers Kateryna Babkina and Olesya Khromeychuk.
 
Concert for Ukraine is the brainchild of Ukrainian-born award winning jazz harpist Alina Bzhezhinska. 

"My country is burning. As a native Ukrainian and a human being I cannot be silent. I want to stay strong for all Ukrainians and play my music for them to show solidarity and give my people some comfort and love. 
From the beginning of the Russian invasion two years ago, I've played over 70 concerts with musicians from UK, USA, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine, raising money for several charities and simply people who needed help - musicians and artists who became soldiers, to children who became orphans. With donations and merchandise that has been sold at the concerts we have collected over £50'000.

At the beginning of the war we bought three vehicles and sent humanitarian aid and protective equipment to soldiers of the Territorial Defence Regiments.

At the same time I started supporting my artist friend Tetiana Mialkovska’s charity “Tepli Doloni” - “Warm Palms” in Lutck, Volyn region, that helps refugees children to recover from war experiences through Art Therapy, and recently I have been supporting the charity in my home city of Lviv “Shelter - Domivka” that rescues animals from front line areas.

This is our third concert for Ukraine at the Cockpit. Let’s get together again and show our solidarity and support to people who are not as privileged as we are.

This concert is important for all of us as peace is so fragile at the moment and the world needs this - peace - the most."- Alina Bzhezhinska.


 ALINA BZHEZHINSKA
"Alina Bzhezhinska… a modern-day supremo… among the best contemporary harpists…” - Evening Standard

Undoubtedly one of the leading harpists in the world today, Alina Bzhezhinska is a one- woman powerhouse, on a mission to bring the harp to the fore of contemporary sound. From Royalty to the jazz greats of today - Alina Bzhezhinska has performed at the late Queen’s 80th Birthday and the King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand; she collaborated with world top artists Kamaal Williams, DJ Spinna (NYC), Slide Johnson (Paris) and
Shabaka Hutchings. Bzhezhinska is a creator of a unique international formation HipHarpCollective. She has released her critically acclaimed albums “Inspiration” (Ubuntu Music, 2018), “Reflections” (BBE Music, 2022) and “Altera Vita” in duet with Tony Kofi on Saxophone (BBE Music, 2023).

TONY KOFI
“There is so much respect in jazz circles for Tony Kofi.” – Jazzwise 

A British Jazz multi-instrumentalist born of Ghanaian parents, Tony plays Alto, Baritone, Soprano and Tenor saxaphones and the flute. He cut teeth with the Jazz Warriors of the early 90's, and has gone on to win Best Album and Best Instrumentalist at the BBC Jazz Awards, Best Ensemble at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, The Black Achievers Cultural, Music and Arts Award, The Jack Petchey Foundation Award, and has also recieved a MOBO nomination. 

Bassist MIKELE MONTOLLI (Verona, Italy) has performed and recorded with such great artists as "Sun Ra Arkestra" Knoel Scott quartet and Marshall Allen, top U.K. Jazz singers Julie Dexter and Heidi Vogel, and L.A. saxophone legend Don Menza, thus building an extensive music vocabulary based on Afro-American tradition fused with years of classical training and experimental form-free music. In 2017 Montolli released his debut album "Satellite House”.

Australian drummer/percussionist JOEL PRIME has become an important addition to British jazz. Winner of 'Australia's Best Up & Coming Drummer' competition in 2011, his versatility across congas, drum kit and all manner of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion has created the opportunity for Joel to perform with Tony Kofi, Alina Bzhezhinska Quartet, Mr Little’s Noisy Band, Felix Riebl and The Copasetic Foundation, amongst others.

HipHarpCollective:
Alina Bzhezhinska - harp
Joel Prime - percussion
Mikele Montolli - electric bass
Tony Kofi - saxophone
 
Plus Guests..
NIKI KING 
“The outstanding Scottish female vocalist of all time” - The List.
An award winning singer and song-writer whose accolades include; winner of the prestigious UK Perrier Jazz Vocalist Award, The Scottish Style Award and The Spirit Of Scotland Music Medal.
 
JO HARROP 
Raised on a heady musical diet of Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin, Jo cut her teeth as a session singer, working with a host of iconic artists including Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart and Gloria Gaynor. The Guardian dubbed her album 'Weathering The Storm' " ...a little gem of an album: simple, modest and perfect”.

ALEX WEBB
A pianist, songwriter and arranger who, for a large part of his career, has worked in and around the music business – in live music promotion, music publishing, as a music press officer and in music radio.  As a piano player he has worked with Gary Crosby, Miles Danso, George Trebar, Larry Bartley, Neil Charles and Andy Cleyndert, Shane Forbes, Moses Boyd, Siemy Di, Rod Youngs, Andy Ball and Andy Chapman.

GéNIA
A concert pianist-turned-composer-yogi. GéNIA recently enjoyed success with her compositions by releasing her solo piano album ‘Babylon’ alongside several sold-out London shows. whilst her music enjoyed placements in the critically acclaimed BBC America TV Series ‘Killing Eve” (starring Sandra Oh) and well-known British ITV series ‘Cold Feet’.

MARIIA PETROVSKA 
A rising star Ukrainian singer and a BANDURA player. She studies at the British Irish Modern Music University and is a member of Ukrainian Cultural Forces. In Summer 2023 she performed for the troops in Eastern Ukraine.

KATERYNA BABKINA 
A Ukrainian poet, prose writer, columnist, screenwriter, and playwright. She’s the author of five poetry collections, three novels and two collections of stories.
She has written four books for kids and there are several short movies based on Kateryna Babkina’s stories.
In 2021 Babkina won the Angelus Central European Literature Award and in 2022, her novella “Cappy and the Whale” was published in translation by Penguin Random House, UK.

OLESYA KHROMEYCHUK
Dr Olesya Khromeychuk is a historian and writer. She is the author of The Death of a Soldier Told by His Sister (2022). Khromeychuk has written for The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Prospect and The New Statesman, and has delivered a TED talk on ‘What the World Can Learn From Ukraine’s Fight for Democracy’. She has taught the history of East-Central Europe at several
British universities and is currently the Director of the Ukrainian Institute London.

Our first Concert for Ukraine at the Cockpit Theatre took place on 13 March 2022.
The event was recorded live by StreetMic LiveStream:
https://vimeo.com/687382631/ea1eec1a56

Donations can be sent via Alina Bzhezhinska’s website:
https://www.hipharpcollective.com/ukraine

Sunday 19th May - 7:00pm