The Promise of Someday — Part 2: Before the Piano Called Me Back
- Inna Lobanova
- Mar 25
- 2 min read
In June of 1991, I came to Philadelphia for a three-month summer vacation. But the Universe had other plans: the August 19 coup in the USSR turned my life upside down and closed the door on returning home for a long time. My focus shifted to sheer survival, then to building a stable life as an immigrant in a completely new culture. I graduated with honors from a Paralegal program and dedicated the next nine years to a career as a bilingual paralegal, while raising a family with two amazing children.
My deep connection to the arts soon found a new outlet. From 2006 to 2019, I ran PR Perfect, LLC, a marketing and PR consulting firm where I turned my passion into my profession—advocating for a diverse roster of emerging and well-established clients in the performing arts, from choirs, opera singers, and composers—to orchestras, festivals, and dance companies.
Yet, music was always in my soul. Vocal studies and ensemble singing—always an alto—became my sanctuary, a meditative refuge from the noise of daily life. I lost myself in the luminous textures of Renaissance motets, the intricate architecture of Bach's polyphony, the sweeping emotional depths of Rachmaninov, and the haunting beauty of Bulgarian a cappella folk tunes. (Among the ensembles I called my musical home were Vox Ama Deus, The Music Group of Philadelphia, Vox Renaissance Consort, Choral Arts Philadelphia, and Svitanya.)
Piano teaching surfaced in shorter but cherished spells—a year at Lake Superior State University’s piano studio for youth, and later, welcoming private students to my home studio in Montgomery County, PA.
I continued to play piano to keep my skills sharp. I studied classical pieces by my favorite composers—Sibelius, Arensky, Grieg, Bach, Schumann, Chopin, Bartók, and Scriabin. On occasion, I would accompany my singer friends and bring jazz and pop standards to life at family Christmas gatherings. But the intimate, experimental dialogue with my instrument—the quiet, magical space where I could discover my own voice—remained a whispered promise for “Someday…”
← Back to Part 1: The Piano Called Me Back ←
→ Continue to Part 3: From Harmony to Melody →
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