Tonia Cianciulli shares a tale of grief and loss with her heartfelt and haunting new single Churchyard Roses — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Inspired by a historic family tragedy — the 1935 drowning death of her grandparents’ four-year-old son, who drowned in their Newfoundland ocean backyard — Churchyard Roses finds Evans Cianciulli (with the help of poet Vaughn Harbin) attempting to express what was in the hearts and minds of Ches and Elsie Dyke upon the loss of their precious son Edward. The results are moving and humble, fresh and folkloric, and make an admirable contribution to Newfoundland’s legendary musical canon.
Churchyard Roses features the guitar stylings of Jesse Fegelman, cello contributions from Erika Nielsen, and was recorded, mixed and mastered with Dima Graziaani. It follows Tonia’s previously released 2022 singles My Voice Belongs To Him, Always Her Home and Hold His Heart. The track will feature on her forthcoming album Love Me ‘Till I’m Me Again, a collection of her original musical meditations on her beloved Newfoundland roots.
Tonia recently performed as a soloist with the Casa Loma Symphony and the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera Company, and visited Newfoundland in 2022 for concerts and book signings. She will perform an East Coast Christmas concert with the Cambridge Symphony and is planning a new tour of her Nightingale Sings program in 2023. She is honoured to have recently received Brilliant Minded Women’s prestigious award in the arts and entertainment category and will be a keynote performer at their 2022 gala.
Listen to Churchyard Roses above, hear more from Tonia Evans Cianciulli below, and meet her at her website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
