One night only – Saturday, May 9, 2026 – Soundstreams closes their 2025/26 concert season with In Terra Pax (On Earth, Peace), a powerful reflection on war, loss and resilience curated by Anna Pidgorna, winner of Soundstreams’ New Voices Curator Mentorship Program. Presented at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in the Jane Mallet Theatre.
Powerful music & haunting landscapes
At the heart of this program is Black Crow, a new piece composed by Pidgorna for voice, piano and string orchestra. Black Crow is inspired by the poetry of the late Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina and is rooted in the Ukrainian tradition of female lamentation – a vocal mourning to honour the deceased. English composer, conductor and pianist Benjamin Britten’s iconic Lachrymae for solo viola and string orchestra, along with works by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits, Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy and Ukrainian composer Oleksiy Voytenko, round out the program.
Peace on & in earth
Pidgorna shares, “The Latin phrase ‘in terra pax’ is usually translated as ‘peace on earth,’ carrying a pacifist message, but the preposition ‘in’ can also be translated as ‘in’ rather than ‘on’ in English. Peace in earth. When faced with aggression, peace is not a passive state, but an active resistance requiring sacrifice, not just on the battlefield but in everyday life. For many, resistance ends in earth. The Ukrainian tradition of lamentation or gholosinnya is a reckoning, not just with death, but with the life ahead. In Victoria Amelina’s text, the lamenter plants the names of her perished sisters in the soil, to grow new sisters who will sing life back onto the earth. This concert program laments and honours all those who have resisted aggression in whatever way they could. Those who remain must continue to sing life.”
Conducted by Tania Miller, featured performers include vocalist Anna Pidgorna, pianist Anna Sagalova – a displaced Ukrainian now based in Vancouver – Ukrainian-Canadian soprano Natalya Gennadi and violist Steven Dann. They are accompanied by Ensemble Soundstreams. The concert also includes projections of haunting Ukrainian landscapes by acclaimed photographer Yevhen Samuchenko.
Funded (in part) by the Shevchenko Foundation Leon and Zena Kossar Music Fund.
“There was never a more important time to explore the rich musical heritage of Ukrainian culture. Many of us feel helpless in the face of the unconscionable invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the carnage and suffering from war on a global scale. By giving voice to important Ukrainian stories and traditions, we too can play some part in fostering resistance and resilience among all oppressed peoples.”
– Lawrence Cherney, Soundstreams Artistic Director
About Soundstreams
Under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney, Soundstreams began in 1982 with a tribute to Igor Stravinsky’s 100th birth year, an artist who fundamentally transformed the ways we hear our world. Since then, they’ve probed compelling Canadian themes and stories through new works in music and opera that resonate with our time and place, aiming to not only reflect upon those themes and stories but to inspire new perspectives and approaches to them. Their various Toronto-based concert series, educational and outreach events and professional development programs have showcased nearly 1,500 global creators and performers in collaboration with their Canadian counterparts. At the same time, their productions have toured North America, Latin America, Asia and Europe. In recent seasons, Soundstreams has received high praise from the international press: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal.
(Photo credits: Soundstreams. Forgotten Heart by Yevhen Samuchenko.)
Event details
Presented by: Soundstreams
Type of event: classical music concert
Curated by: Anna Pidgorna
Conducted by: Tania Miller
Performers: Anna Pidgorna (vocals), Natalya Gennadi (soprano), Steven Dann (viola), Anna Sagalova (piano) & Ensemble Soundstreams
Photographs by: Yevhen Samuchenko
Performed works & composers:
- Black Crow by Anna Pidgorna, inspired by the poetry of the late Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina
- Lachrymae by Benjamin Britten
- Plus works by Tõnu Kõrvits, Kelly-Marie Murphy & Oleksiy Voytenko
Date: Saturday, May 9, 2026
Start time: 7:30 PM ET
Duration: approx. 2 hours (with intermission)
Cost: C$30.00 & $40.25 (not including order processing fee)
Location: Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E., Toronto, ON, M5E 1B4
Booking link: Book your tickets here.
Contact details: Soundstreams, 20 St. Joseph St., Toronto, ON, M4Y 1J9, Canada; (416) 504-1282, info@soundstreams.ca, soundstreams.ca
Accessibility: Info here. Accessible tickets and phone/email help available at 1 (800) 708-6754 or boxoffice@tolive.com.
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