Yanas had the pleasure of conducting the world premier of Cowell’s Sankta Lucia. This piece tells the story of the Swedish Saint who every-night battles the darkness and ushers in the day. In the third and final movement “Dag” (Day) you can hear the people celebrate and rejoice as a new day is brought forth by Sankta Lucia.

Yanas, along side Garrett Hayes (cello) and 김다은 – Deaun Kim (piano) perform Jake Heggie’s The Work at Hand and text by Laura Morefield (1960 – 2011), who was the daughter of San Diego poet and writer Charlene Baldridge. Morefield was a private poet who was said to have “slaved over and perfected everything”. In 2008 Morefield was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer and began to write. Morefield decided to document her battle with cancer through poetry for over two years. Before she died, Morefield charged her mother to publish all of her post-diagnosis work. Baldridge compiled 39 poems that her daughter had written during the two years after her diagnosis and entitled the finished chapbook: “The Warrior’s Stance”. The Work at Hand is one of many poems written by Morefield post-diagnosis. The Work at Hand takes you through a journey of heartbreak, resentment, anger, and finding peace in acceptance.