Let Go, Fly Far: Pianist Huguette Lavigne’s New Album Soars with Spirit and Sound
With the release of her new album Let Go, Fly Far, Huguette Lavigne opens the door to a world of motion and stillness, improvisation and deep emotion. Featuring eleven original piano compositions, the record invites listeners to follow instinct, embrace feeling, and travel beyond expectation.
For anyone who understands piano at a deep technical level, the craftsmanship here shines. Lavigne’s steady left hand offers grounding in each piece, while her right hand carves delicate, adventurous melodies that shimmer and stretch. Her tone is warm, her phrasing intuitive — this is the kind of playing that speaks from the soul through the keys.
Instrumentally, this album is a rare gem. Every note arrives with clarity and intention. With no formal plan or rigid structure, Lavigne allows each composition to unfold naturally. Her music carries an organic flow, rich with spontaneity and shaped by experience, memory, and pure sound.
The title track “Let Go, Fly Far” perfectly captures the spirit of the project. It moves gently, with a pulse that offers comfort, and a melody that explores space and light. These pieces carry the wisdom of restraint and the freedom of emotional risk — an elegant balance between grounding and release.
Born into three Canadian cultures — Franco Ontarian, Québécois, and English — and influenced by American, European, and Indian classical traditions, Lavigne brings a wide musical lens to her work. Her studies at McGill University and l’Université de Montréal laid a foundation that she continues to build upon with originality and grace.
This album offers a story worth celebrating — one of fearless creativity, lifelong artistry, and music that arrives with no agenda beyond honesty and beauty. Huguette’s work invites both deep listening and joyful drift.
The music here floats and rests, it stretches and lands. These are compositions made for quiet mornings, late-night reflections, and every in-between. Wherever you are in your journey, this album offers a companion in sound and spirit.
Hi, Huguette! Good to see you again! Care to introduce yourself to the readers for those not familiar with your music?
My name is Huguette Lavigne, and I compose music for the piano. Improvisation is my compass—sometimes it steers me into familiar genres, and other times I stumble upon gold, a brand-new piece, or at least the seed of one. My influences are wide—classical, jazz, folk, and just about everything in between. Ideas take time to ripen, yet every so often, if I’ve captured an improvisation on recording, I find myself holding nearly an entire piece in my hands. I love what I do, and I do what I love—because to me, it never feels like work.
The title Let Go, Fly Far suggests release and freedom. What personal meaning does that phrase hold for you?
I’ve always felt that the rigid demands of music theory and the pursuit of perfection in a piano performance of music written by others somewhat stifled me. I prefer the risk and thrill of improvisation and writing my music. When I first began composing, I’d simply memorize my work — but every time I returned to it, something would change. Eventually, I learned to jot down a rough musical sketch of each piece. Now, I record them as they evolve.
From the start, I knew this was freeing — it lifted the weight of perfect notation and made my life easier. This album reflects many facets of me as a musician. Let Go, Fly Far represents the loosening of the ties that bound me. I followed my instincts and leaped untethered.
You take a risk when a hot air balloon lifts you up and away. But with that risk comes freedom, inspiration, and a rush of creativity that sweeps through you as you soar. That’s how I’ve been able to Let Go, Fly Far —in my own way, on my flight path.
You draw from Franco-Ontarian, Quebecois, English, and multiple classical traditions. How do these cultural roots emerge in your compositions?
My cultural roots emerge in my melodies, rhythms, and the imagery in my mind that leads to inspiration — and sometimes a piece simply demands a French title! I grew up in a world of music typical of Québécois and Franco-Ontarian life, and a childhood steeped in tradition. From that early exposure, I drew on the traditional, the folk music, and the classical.
My love for India’s classical music also opened new paths, inspiring me to weave certain elements into my improvisations and compositions. One of these is ostinato or raga in Hindi— a melodic phrase or rhythmic pattern played repeatedly, providing a steady framework for improvisation. You can hear it clearly in Steady Beneath The Song on the Let Go, Fly Far album.
I like to think of my jazz pieces as hybrids of North American Jazz tradition, informed by it, but seeking their own direction. An earlier piece, Piano Retro, ran through my fingers almost too easily, because I purposely composed it in traditional jazz style. Still, I hope that as my recent jazz voice continues to emerge, it will resonate as jazz while offering something fresh, distinctive, and entirely my own.
Where do you hope your listeners “travel” — emotionally or imaginatively — when they hear this record?
Perhaps they will learn to let go and take a chance, find a focus, maintain it, still their mind, imagine whatever The Last Waltz means to them, enjoy the earnestness and joy of Prélude en Mi+, the first complete piece I ever recorded in the studio.
This album feels deeply personal. Is there a piece that reflects a pivotal moment or memory in your life?
Yes, this album is deeply personal to me. Kyrie Eleison was composed this year for the celebration of the life of a very dear friend of mine. Steady Beneath The Song and Still The Focus Within were composed for my daughter, who asked for some meditative music. Prélude en Mi+ is a second version of my first full piece ever recorded. Improvisation on The Last Waltz is a leap, a chance I took, totally untethered. This is a loose improvisation on The Last Waltz. Every time I improvise on it, I get something very different. So, what was recorded was unique, and it was accomplished on the first and only take. You never know where you may go when you let go. So, I suppose Improvisation on The Last Waltz reflects a pivotal moment here for me.