Next month, Helsinki-based mezzo-soprano, pianist and composer Maria Konoshenko releases Walkabout, the first official single from her forthcoming song cycle, Songs of Exile. The full album is scheduled for release in later this year on Michael J McEvoy’s label, Rezzonator Music, Maria Konoshenko is a striking new voice at the crossroads of classical art song, jazz harmony and cabaret-inflected storytelling, and the recording features jazz saxophonist, Paul Booth on clarinet, and Michael J McEvoy on guitar and bass.
Launched on the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the lyrics are based on the poem, Прогулка by theatre director/playwright and poet, Evgenia Berkovich, who is currently incarcerated in a Russian prison on false allegations of "justifying terrorism" for her involvement in a play, Finist the Brave Falcon. Walkabout is intended as an act of solidarity with Evgenia Berkovich, whose authorship is fully recognised.
In 2022, Konoshenko left Russia with her young son. Like many artists and musicians who publicly opposed the Putin regime and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she was ultimately forced into exile, relocating to Helsinki. This personal and political rupture became the catalyst for Songs of Exile, an evolving body of work rooted in contemporary Russian poetry that confronts war, forced migration, collective guilt, and political protest.
Born and raised in Saint Petersburg, Konoshenko’s musical life has unfolded alongside a parallel career in linguistics. She is currently a researcher in the Department of General Linguistics at the University of Helsinki, specialising in prosody — the melody and intonation of speech — particularly in multilingual West African societies. This dual identity informs her songwriting, where text, sound and meaning are inseparable.
Pre-save Walkabout.
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