Paris To Kyiv

With one foot firmly on Canadian soil and the other foot in Eastern Europe, Alexis Kochan has uncovered a soundscape in between with the development of her Paris To Kyiv project. For the past 10 years Kochan and her collaborators have blended ancient Ukrainian music with contemporary sounds. Drawing on the deep musical traditions of Eastern Europe, they weave a universal sonic tapestry, working in strands of jazz and new music, medieval Slavonic chant, dance tunes inspired by Carpathian Mountain fiddlers and blind bandura players, original compositions and ancient ritual songs with roots in the Neolithic. Singer Alexis Kochan has partnered with violist/guitarist/singer/songwriter, Richard Moody and bandurist and sopilka player, Julian Kytasty since 1996 and together they create the core Paris To Kyiv sound. Kochan also invites musicians from different cultural worlds to join the ensemble on the projects, creating new colour and texture on each recording. New musical partners include Christian Dugas, Gilles Fournier and Rodrigo Munoz.