*2026 stock* It is an unusually bright afternoon in early March when I am writing these lines, while listening to the debut album by Oksana Shymanska. Joan Arnau Pàmies from Protomaterial Records just sent it to me; it was recorded not long ago at the Auditori Municipal Enric Granados in Lleida. I celebrate it because it represents the culmination of a process that began when Oksana arrived in Catalonia from her native Ukraine. It is also the result of a professional wish: to record an album that comprises all those years of studies of Iberian piano music which she experienced at the prestigious Marshall Academy in Barcelona under the tutelage of Carlota Garriga.

It was precisely at this academy where, a few years back, I had the opportunity to listen to Oksana for the first time. Even then one could appreciate the essence of what you will perceive in this recording, a firm performative character, extroverted, with broad expression, subtle, and crystalline sound.

As the title of the album itself announces, we are about to start a journey (travessia) through the music of composers born in the four Catalan provinces during different eras in the history of music, from the 18th century to the present day. This album is a token of Oksana’s deep love for a country that is already hers, because she has become its adopted daughter.