The Promise of Someday — Part 3: From Harmony to Melody
- Inna Lobanova
- Mar 25
- 2 min read
My “Someday” started not at the piano, but at the microphone. It was an incredible opportunity to collaborate on an album created by my close friend, singer-songwriter Boris Sonis, bringing me into the creative orbit of both Boris and his brilliant producer, Igor Kisil of Sweet Rains Records (NYC). My initial role as project manager and marketing director suddenly expanded when the need arose for female backup vocals and duets on some of the songs.
In the Sweet Rains recording studio—a hallowed space where artists like Sting have walked—I suddenly transitioned from the safety of the choir to the vulnerability of the solo vocalist. Amid the glow of vintage microphones and under Igor's creative guidance, I discovered a voice I had never dared to trust. The experience shattered a lifelong doubt: I wasn’t just promoting art—I was creating it.
Then, on a hot June morning in 2023, seemingly out of nowhere, melodies began ambushing me one by one—in dawn dreams, mid-traffic, even in the steam of my tea—like uninvited Soviet apparatchiks demanding paperwork.
My first instinct was resistance: "Kidding me? Who am I to compose?" But this music would not be exiled. So personal, so fresh and unusual yet deeply rooted in my classical school—it was pleading to be preserved. I would wake up with entire sections in my head, ready to be written down. After scribbling them on whatever manuscript paper I could find, I spent hours at the piano coaxing them into shape. Some pieces emerged in a single sitting; others demanded weeks of patient unraveling. Surrendering to this creative flow felt like coming home… My Soviet music school piano teacher would have crossed herself.
Those tender melodies have now grown into a full body of work—an album’s worth of solo piano pieces I am now recording and refining alongside talented sound engineers.
For so much of my life, I placed myself last—caring for others, meeting expectations, silencing my own needs. Composing has taught me something different. It has become my way of honoring my own voice, setting my own tempo, and playing my own notes.
The discovery of my unique style and voice as a composer continues. But now, I no longer wait for permission or validation. I simply listen within—and create.
← Back to Part 2: Before the Piano Called Me Back ←
← Back to Part 1: The Origins ←
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