La Kobsa (Digital-only EP)

With La Kobsa, cellist Matt Haimovitz offers a deeply personal tribute to Ukraine and its people through the music of Ukrainian-born composer Thomas de Hartmann. Centered around the haunting solo work La Kobsa – inspired by the ancient Ukrainian instrument kobza and composed in exile in 1950 – this digital release captures the resilience, heart, and enduring spirit of a nation at war.

While the recording was made at Skywalker Sound in California, the emotional core of this project lies in Haimovitz’s four-city tour of Ukraine with the Odesa Philharmonic in May 2024, made possible by a grant from the U.S. State Department. During his journey, he performed impromptu sets in public squares and for wounded soldiers, accompanied by a documentary film crew, and brought de Hartmann’s music to his homeland for the very first time.