Inventions:
the Harpsichord across Time and Borders

A multi-national project to extend the repertoire for solo harpsichord, pairing new commissions with historical works that inspired them, championing composers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and focusing on female composers.

brief introductory video

Image: Katarzyna Kowalik, our London-based harpsichordist.

Our new repertoire is now available!

Four new pieces for solo harpsichord by composers based in the UK and Ireland:

Night Shall Hide Thee
Janet Oates (2024)
Night Shall Hide Thee by English composer Janet Oates is a musical conversation with Lover, go and calm thy Sighs by the London-born composer Elisabetta Gambarini (1748). It interweaves the historical work with the new commission. Also available is a version referencing, but not including, the Gambarini.

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

Keening
Evangelia Rigaki (2024)
Keening by Dublin-based Greek composer Evangelia is inspired by The Irish Ho-Hoane from the Fitzwilliam Virginals book. It is a powerful meditation on grief, employing verbalisation, gesture, pizzicato effects and an e-bow.

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

Goleuni'r Dyffryn
Sarah Lianne Lewis (2025)
Goleuni'r Dyffron (The Light of the Valley) by Welsh composer Sarah Lianne Lewis is a multi-sectional work fully enjoying the colours of the harpsichord, inspired by the well-known Welsh folk song Dayfdd y Garreg Wen (David of the White Rock). Baroque and folk elements dance together, with the folk tune surfacing and vanishing like echoes across a valley.

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

Dorchadas, duilichinn, dòchas
Lisa Robertson (2024)
Dorchadas, duilichinn, dòchas (darkness, regret, hope) by Scottish composer Lisa Robertson is a response to The Mull Fisher's Love Song, a folk song collected and arranged by Marjory Kennedy-Fraser. It fragments the historical work, building into a passionate song of hope before retreating into its mysterious sound world, exploring the possibilities of the harpsichord with multiple extended techniques.

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

About the Inventions project

COMMISSIONS

4 new commissions: by a female composer in each of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
Each commission was inspired by a historical work from that country.
Each composer worked closely with a harpsichordist working in that country, collaborating and exploring, producing fascinating new works linking the old and new.

Programme notes for this wonderful new repertoire are HERE

To meet the composers, scroll down

SPREADING THE WORD

In 2025 Janet wrote an article in Soundboard: the journal of the British Harpsichord Society (read it HERE) and in 2026 an article was published in the Harpsichord and Fortepiano magazine (Spring 2026, vol. 30 no.2), both outlining and discussing the Inventions project.
In 2025 Yonit, Evangelia and Janet took part in a podcast discussing the project, having been interviewed by Jonathan Grimes of the Contemporary Music Centre of Ireland. Listen to the Amplify podcast episode HERE
in June 2026 Yonit presented a themed lecture about the Inventions project, including audio and video illustrations of the pieces, at the Historical Keyboard Society of North Anerica conference in Italy.

We would love our new works, and their historical partner-pieces, to be performed by lots of other performers! Please explore our repertoire pages HERE, and our scores and recordings using the buttons above, and expand your repertoire to include works from around the British Isles and contemporary music. Do get in touch if you would like to contact the composers about playing their wonderful new works.

PERFORMANCES

In each country, the project presented two concerts, in venues varying from Universities to churches, art galleries and city halls.
The performer in each country curated their own programme, adding works relevant to the project and to their country:

full repertoire lists for each concert can be found HERE

To see a full list of our events click HERE

To listen to recordings, click HERE (coming soon!)

To meet the performers, see below

WORKSHOPS and OUTREACH

There is also an educational aspect to the project: it's not easy writing for the harpsichord! Each performer gave at least one composition workshop or educational event in their country, talking about the fantastic potential of the instrument, and how to get the best out of it, as well as the pitfalls of writing badly for it!

England: Katarzyna held a workshop with the London Composers' Forum in the Handel House, London. and a Q&A after the Richmond concert
Scotland: Tiffany presented an online 'how to write for harpsichord' event, hosted by Sound Scotland. Also under the auspices of Sound Scotland, she and Lisa led a group of emerging composers in a composer opportunity project
Ireland: Yonit led a workshop for students from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and from Trinity College Dublin, and led a panel after the concert in Limerick
Wales: Despina and Janet led a workshop for primary school children, and there was a stimulating Q&A after the Cardiff concert.

Meet the team:

In each of the four countries, a harpsichord player was paired with a commissioned composer. They worked together to create works that are idiomatic for the instrument; all of the team are high-powered artists, each bringing a wealth of experience to the project.

In Scotland, our harpsichordist is Tiffany Vong, working with composer Lisa Robertson in Glasgow.
In Ireland, our performer is Yonit Kosovske, working with Dublin-based Evangelia Rigaki
In England, composer Janet Oates working with Katarzyna Kowalik in London.
In Wales, harpsichordist Despina Homatidou working with composer Sarah-Lianne Lewis in Cardiff.

top row: the Inventions composers (L-R): Lisa Robertson, Evangelia Rigaki, Janet Oates, Sarah-Lianne Lewis

bottom row: the Inventions performers (L-R): Tiffany Vong, Yonit Kosovske, Katarzyna Kowalik, Despina Homatidou

Sarah Lianne Lewis - Website about image

We are delighted and grateful to be supported by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, The Hope Scott Trust, The Marchus Trust and the Francis Routh Trust - and in Wales by the Cy Terdd Vale of Glamorgan Legacy fund.

Inventions: the Harpsichord across Time and Borders

Our new repertoire is now available!

Four new pieces for solo harpsichord by composers based in the UK and Ireland:

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

Keening Evangelia Rigaki (2024) Keening by Dublin-based Greek composer Evangelia is inspired by The Irish Ho-Hoane from the Fitzwilliam Virginals book. It is a powerful meditation on grief, employing verbalisation, gesture, pizzicato effects and an e-bow.

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

Click HERE for a recording, further information and access to the scores.

About the Inventions project

Meet the team:

We are delighted and grateful to be supported by Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, The Hope Scott Trust, The Marchus Trust and the Francis Routh Trust - and in Wales by the Cy Terdd Vale of Glamorgan Legacy fund.

Inventions:
the Harpsichord across Time and Borders

Keening
Evangelia Rigaki (2024)
Keening by Dublin-based Greek composer Evangelia is inspired by The Irish Ho-Hoane from the Fitzwilliam Virginals book. It is a powerful meditation on grief, employing verbalisation, gesture, pizzicato effects and an e-bow.