Photo by Benita Žogota
Freddy Taylor, “She sounds like a Latvian Blossom Dearie.”
— The Boston Phoenix
Greg Hopkins, performer, composer & arranger, “Multitalented; she really listens and fits in with ease.”
— The Boston Globe
Bill Pierce, jazz saxophonist, “Ilona is a person who makes the music alive. You can just tell when you watch her. She’s a real musician.”
— The Boston Globe
DISCOGRAPHY
ON THE BRIDGE (2006) is a 2-set CD compilation of chamber music for flute by world-renowned Latvian composers.
In NOTHING BUT ILLUSION (2011) flutist/band leader Ilona Kudina brings together five great jazz players spanning two generations and two continents. Legendary drummer Billy Hart, Berklee faculty member Greg Hopkins on trumpet, together with two bright lights of the younger generation of jazz players, pianist Vardan Ovsepian and bassist Akili Jamal Haynes join Kudina in playing their own tunes and arrangements in a sensual, cosmopolitan, creative hybrid of American and European jazz styles.
AMBER FLUTE QUARTET (2010) dedicated to the 50th season of the Baltic Concert Series from the Baltic American Society of New England (BASNE).
Latvian-American flute player Ilona Kudiņa’s BALTIC TRANSIT (2022) is the result of Ilona’s creative collaboration with accomplished Latvian jazz pianist Viktors Ritovs, jazz vocalist Arta Jēkabsone, drummer Artis Orubs and Grammy-winning Peruvian-American bassist Oscar Stagnaro. BALTIC TRANSIT’s world-fusion compositions draw from Latvian folk music, Latin-American rhythms, and Ilona’s voyage through flute sounds, creating a unique synthesis of ideas.