These songs are centred around the story of my paternal grandmother, whom I never met. She died in Vienna after the second world war having lost her husband, children and home during the Nazi regime. She was a Polish Catholic woman married to an Austrian Jew. She sent her children (my father and his brother) to the UK on the last Kindertransport (see photo below) and died before they could be reunited. The songs are my way of connecting with my grandmother’s story and dilemma. With the current reality of war in Europe and the ensuing suffering associated with displacement, my grandmother’s experience is a familiar story shared by so many women and mothers both historically and now. The songs are written in collaboration with Harrie Herfst. 

Watch this space for more information.