Kyiv, Ukraine – Nov. 19, 2025

“It finally happened!!!!

Ukraine heard your incredible piece!!!!”

That’s the WhatsApp message I got two nights ago from Iryna Lytvynenko, the Ukranian Bandura virtuoso who adapted my concerto “Merceditas” for her own instrument, the national instrument and symbol of unity of Ukraine: Bandura.

The week before she told me she wasn’t sure the concert would happen because of the bombing.

“The night before,” she went onthere was a terrible shelling… The morning began with two air attacks….

There was no light in the rehearsal hall, the generator worked only in the concert hall, I was preparing for the performance in complete darkness with a phone flashlight.

And the cold…. terrible… it was practically impossible to tune the bandura, and most importantly, the key switches stopped working – they were knocked back…. There was a minimum of technical support, without monitors: the orchestra could not hear me, and I could not hear the orchestra.

But I did it!!!

Your music deeply impressed the listeners. The reaction is simply incredible!!!!

I was given so many flowers. that I could not take them off the stage!!! 

Iryna Lytvynenko Kyiv, Ukraine Nov. 19, 2025
World Premiere of Lytvynenko’s Bandura adaptation of
Merceditas Harp Concerto by Deborah Henson-Conant

This collaboration and this premiere of a new concerto for bandura – adapted from my concerto for harp – was made possible by the courage of these artists and the generous Legacy Bridge Project supporters to make this work.

Watch the first half of Merceditas Bandura Concerto by Iryna Lytvynenko – Nov. 19, 2025

PRESS RELEASE

World Premiere of MERCEDITAS BANDURA CONCERTO:
Harp Composition Transformed to Ukrainian Symbol of Strength and Human Connection

(Boston, MA – November 14, 2025) Grammy-nominated harpist, composer, and international performer Deborah Henson-Conant (DHC) proudly announces the world premiere of MERCEDITAS BANDURA CONCERTO, an adaptation of her original harp concerto from her Grammy-nominated album, Invention and Alchemy. The work was arranged for bandura by Ukrainian bandura virtuoso Iryna Lytvynenko, who will perform the premiere with the Academic Orchestra of Folk and Popular Music in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, symbolizing Ukraine’s enduring spirit and unity through music. (Broadcast details to come.)

MERCEDITAS BANDURA CONCERTO is Iryna’s reimagining of the work for the bandura—Ukraine’s national 65-string instrument, rich with cultural history dating back to the Middle Ages. The Academic Orchestra, founded in 1929, also carries a legacy of resilience, having survived Stalin’s regime, World War II, and now Russia’s ongoing war.

This historic collaboration was made possible through The Legacy Bridge Project, a program Deborah launched in 2024 to connect musicians who cannot afford licensing or coaching fees with sponsors eager to make a difference. Sponsors fund the licensing, empowering both composer and performer while bringing the music to wider audiences worldwide.

Iryna first reached out to Deborah in June 2024 from war-torn Ukraine, requesting a waiver of the licensing fee to perform one of Deborah’s concertos for a nationally televised concert. It was a defining moment for Deborah—a choice between fair compensation and exposure, a dilemma familiar to many independent artists.

“Behind her polite words lay a desperate reality: musicians performing between air raid sirens, composing by candlelight, rehearsing in bomb shelters,” said Deborah. “This wasn’t just about one performance; it was about using art as resistance against despair.”

“She wanted to celebrate her orchestra’s 95th anniversary with something that had never existed before,” Deborah continued. “And she didn’t have the funds for the licensing fee. What if the gap could become a bridge instead of a chasm? Thus was born The Legacy Bridge Project.”

Today, the project not only connects artists and sponsors across the globe but forges genuine human bonds. “I feel like my music has become a bridge not just between performer and audience,” Deborah reflected, “but now between a player and a sponsor who are changing each other’s lives. The sponsor feels he can have a real impact in a part of the world that otherwise is just something on the news.”

For more information on Deborah Henson-Conant, her music, and The Legacy Bridge Project, visit hipharp.com.

For more on Iryna Lytvynenko, visit her YouTube channel.