Hialøsa. The sound of violins in three octaves, feet stomping and intense voices invites the audience to a
journey through dance music, spirituality, dreams and death. The music is based on traditional music material, fragments, songs and new compositions. Traditional, disruptive and honest.

Songs about life and death, remembrance of a past, looking towards the future. In the middle of the pandemic lockdown in 2020, three experienced folk musicians from the southern Swedish region of Skåne (Scania) met for the first time. They shared a vision of creating a new sound for their local tradition and presenting it to an international audience.

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Brek Brek (IS) was formed in the fall of 2018. The band mainly plays original, folky music with influences from various sources, but the members of the band focus on creating an interesting but cozy atmosphere in their playing. In addition, In addition there is a focus on the multifaceted use of the Icelandic language in the band’s lyrics.

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Eriksson/Myhr/Malmström is a Swedish/Norwegian trio playing newly composed, nordic folk music on guitar, hardanger fiddle and clarinet / bass clarinet. With elements of improvisation and voicing based on counterpoint techniques, the trio has found an exciting musical expression. The guitar's melodic and contrapuntal role adds a new nuance, and the hardanger fiddle and clarinet go beyond their roles as melodic instruments with improvised soundscapes and accompaniment. Named “Instrumental band of the year” in 2022 by the music magazine Lira and nominated for "Folk music of the year" at Manifestgalan.

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Spöket i Köket distinguishes itself by being the only Scandi-French Canadian crossover Folk Bigband in Scandinavia, consisting of ten young ambitious musicians with different backgrounds in both jazz, classical, rock and folk music. The band’s repertoire consists of old and new songs and tunes from both Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Québec and Cape Breton, ranging from melancholic ballads to feisty polskas and rousing reels.

With a mix of traditional folk instruments like fiddle, wooden flute and accordion, joined by double bass, piano and guitar, and a horn section with saxophones, trumpet and trombone, this band creates a powerful, bombastic sound in the borderland between traditional folk and bigband music.
With twenty instruments played by ten musicians, the energy is high and outgoing and the response is overwhelmingly positive wherever Spöket i Köket is performing.

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The musical roots of the duo En:1 (One to one) goes back in time and tradition without losing the touch with today. Based on a strong connection with the older times blended with a modern mind the duo performs energetic versions of traditional treasures seasoned with their own compositions. The vision of En:1 is to keep the rough and beautiful uncarved folk music alive. Music for dancing as well as listening. Formed in 2017 the duo has performed in venues and festivals across Denmark and Scandinavia besides participating in international festivals as well as being chosen as a selected international artist in the Global Music Match program 2022 edition.

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Bona Fide is gothic folk, sung with bared breast and played with gems and stones.
Sophia Luna’s siren-like voice leads you through the valleys and summits of Emil Palme’s guitar, sometimes ethereal, sometimes dense as the night. With songs of love, loss and magic, Bona Fide is an avantgarde take on the traditions of storytelling in folk music, holding hands with country, goth, and doom americana.

Minimalist, romantic and fragile, Bona Fide’s work ranges from iPhone recordings on the debut album YIELD to the 45 min. symphonic work DAWN. Bona Fide operates at the intersection of music and contemporary art, using myths old and new as both object and lens. A highly visual project, their work has been shown in art galleries, and taught as part of the curriculum at Royal College of Art, London. It’s a worldbuilding project, where each song is an entry into the romantic world of Bona Fide.

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Susanne Lundeng is one of Norway's most highly regarded folk musicians. She has her musical roots in the folk music of Northern Norway and has a distinctive sound as a fiddler, composer, singer, and musical freethinker.
With an ambivalent relationship to the art form and the old traditions that follow, Susanne has developed her sound over time and has received great acceptance within the international scene. In her interplay with renowned jazz musicians Nils-Olav Johansen and Erik Nylander, she explores the music through improvisational conversation. In her lyrics and melodies, Susanne Lundeng portrays the drama of life itself and its impact on both people and the landscape.
Her music has been described as profoundly melancholic, subdued, tender, and stormy.

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AySay. Led by Danish/Kurdish Luna Ersahin, who express her curious spirit in lyrics, song and saz, the trio has created an open universe for bridge-building music. A shared platform for Middle Eastern journeys in Nordic landscapes.

With Aske Døssing Bendixen on analogue and digital percussion, and Carl West Hosbond on guitar, AySay’s pop arrangements are modern folk in form and narrative. Just as traditional folk music is created in close connection between musicians and people, AySay has embraced the whole world as their foundation, source of inspiration and audience. Artistically, AySay draws inspiration from everything from Altin Gün, Aynur Dogan, Danish Sorten Muld and dreamy Sigur Rós.

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Ánnámáret belongs to the Arctic indigenous people Sámi. In her Nieguid duovdagat – Dreamscapes entity she combines Sámi vocal music joik to ancient sound of Finnish bowed lyre jouhikko, played by Ilkka Heinonen and organic live electronics, played by Turkka Inkilä. The music gains influence from both the rich tradition of joik and the vibrant Sámi culture and Arctic nature, by taking to strongly experiential worlds by means of music and images. The concert is accompanied by Marja Viitahuhta’s video art that is created based on Ánnámáret’s innermost visions and images in her joiks.

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Sylfide cultivates the Nordic cultural heritage and embraces the present with feminine strength and sensitivity. The electroacoustic universe combines the Scandinavian folk music with modern songwriting and Danish lyrics, that centers around relevant topics like climate change, femininity and mental health. 

The melodies draw inspiration from ancient ballads and folk dances and are wrapped in smooth synth pads, spherical harp sounds, strings and the sounds of dancing feet. 

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Tsuumi Sound System is one of Finland’s the most notable world music groups of the 21st Century. Rooted in Nordic folk traditions, they’ve toured extensively in 20 different countries around the globe, recorded three widely praised albums and a live session on BBC 3, and worked together with groups like Väsen and Die Deutsche Kammerfilharmonie.

Their four studio albums have received excellent reviews around the world. “Gorgeous textures, stealthy invention and sheer beauty”, Fiona Talkington wrote of Floating Letters (released in 2013). Crowds from Shetland Folk Festival to Folkest in Spilimbergo, Italy have once gain witnessed their live energy quoted ”volcanic” and ”outrageous”.

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Synnøve Plassen is a folk singer and a rising young talent from Norway. With deep roots in Norwegian traditional music, Plassen performs this music with a lively, strong and flexible voice. She recently released her debut album, “Hjemve”, with the music traditions she grew up with in her hometown. The album was awarded the Folkelarm prize for solo albums, and was also nominated for the Norwegian Grammys.

As a singer she is very versatile, and she has a big repertoire for many occasions, ranging from lullabies and love songs to virtuoso dance music and medieval ballads. Lately she has performed as a soloist with big orchestras and small ensembles, doing both traditional and contemporary music. She also has done many solo concerts all around Norway.

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The award winning fiddle player Anna Ekborg Hans-Ers is one of the younger generation’s most prominent folk musicians. Over the last years she has become one of the most known fiddle players on the Swedish Folk Music scene, both as a solo artist and as a member of ensembles such as Swedish Grammy nominees Northern Resonance. 

Inspired by generations of folk musicians, Anna Ekborg explores traditional music with great integrity and curiosity. With deep roots and a focus on the genre, she and her fiddle stretch musical borders and also allow new influences in, leaving her own mark on the tunes. 

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A 2009 graduate of the Université de Montréal with a bachelor's degree in jazz double bass, Cédric Dind-Lavoie is a versatile multi-instrumentalist, composer and accomplished artist. He divides his time between the stage and the studio, between arranging pop music and creating soundtracks for multidisciplinary projects. Since his early twenties, he has had the opportunity to play with artists from various backgrounds such as Nathalie Cora, Dobacaracol and Juan Sebastian Larobina, to name a few. His love of West African cultures has led him to accompany Prince Diabaté, Balla Tounkara, Lilison Di Kinara and, on a more permanent basis, Alpha Thiam, Kabakuwo and the group Bolo Kan at major festivals. 

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The musical roots of the duo En:1 (One to one) goes back in time and tradition without losing the touch with today. Based on a strong connection with the older times blended with a modern mind the duo performs energetic versions of traditional treasures seasoned with their own compositions.

The vision of En:1 is to keep the rough and beautiful uncarved folk music alive. Music for dancing as well as listening. Formed in 2017 the duo has performed in venues and festivals across Denmark and Scandinavia besides participating in international festivals as well as being chosen as a selected international artist in the Global Music Match program 2022 edition.

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