Ukrainian Vlad Kuznetsov and host Paul Fincham

A UKRAINIAN refugee and his Islington host, brought together by the Russian invasion, have bonded over their shared love of the piano.

Award-winning composer Paul Fincham wasted no time in volunteering to host a refugee in his Islington home when the war began last year.

The 63-year-old, who has written scores for films and TV shows, as well as operas and choral music, was keen to offer his spare room to a fellow musician.

He was introduced to Vlad Kuznetsov through a friend who was working abroad and the pair began exchanging emails before the 26-year-old moved to his home in May.

Over the past four months, the pair have gone beyond sharing meals to sharing compositions with one another.

Mr Kuznetsov said: “Music is not a profession or a hobby, music is my life. I could sleep on the floor, but I need to be doing my practice on the piano.”

Mr Kuznetsov, who comes from Nova Kakhovka, a small city in the Kherson region in the south of Ukraine, has performed a memorable piece by Ukrainian composer, Viktor Kosenko, for an audience at Mr Fincham’s home.

He has been separated from his family who remain in the Russian-occupied Kherson region, where they are constantly subjected to the deafening noise of bombing and shooting. His grandparents’ apartment was recently destroyed during an attack.

While he enjoys exploring the local area – preferring to discover new cafés and pubs rather than returning to the same ones – Mr Kuznetsov cares most about living somewhere with a piano.

Mr Fincham joked: “There is an element of providing a patronage to a young musician as people have over the last centuries.”

Mr Kuznetsov will leave Islington to study at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he will enrol on the Artist Masters course, specialising in piano.