Our 7th Ode to Lotta song – “Lotta’s song”– is dedicated to my dear friend Maggie Dace Hollis (1948-2013) pictured here.

This song brings Lotta’s story across the Atlantic. The song includes Lotta’s own words. Describing what it was like being a refugee on a 46-day voyage, in a converted banana boat to New York, and eventually arriving in Canada:

“When I first came to this land, I was so exhausted. I had a feeling of absolute solitude. In an entirely strange country.”

And yet, just 3 years later, in 1945, Lotta would found the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada (USC Canada) to whose humanitarian mission she devoted the rest of her life.

As Lotta put it so succinctly: “Charity begins at home. Indeed, it does. And then it goes on to embrace next door neighbours and all those who need help.”

I’ve dedicated the song to Maggie for a few reasons. First, like Lotta, her parents were also WWII refugees, from Latvia, who ended up in England, where Maggie was born in 1948.

The family came to Canada in 1951, and settled in Hamilton. Maggie’s mother, Alma Skudra Kārkliņa, was a pioneering singer and choral director active in Latvian cultural circles for many decades, and Maggie grew up as a soloist herself.

The photo above was taken at the 9th Latvian Song Festival in Canada in 1991, where Maggie was asked to step in to sing the solo with the massed choir and orchestra at the end of the Festival.

When I wrote the solo part for “Lotta’s song,” I had Maggie’s voice in mind.

On Nov 28, the Vancouver Chamber Choir led by Kari Turunen will be singing the world premiere of “Lotta’s song.”

Stay tuned for the next instalment on the Road to #OdeToLotta…..

And for tickets to the Nov 28 Ode to Lotta concert in Vancouver, click here.