Skúli Sverrisson has created a unique career as a composer, producer, and improviser with a wide range of artists. As an instrumentalist, he has worked with Wadada Leo Smith, Arto Lindsay, Blonde Redhead and Allan Holdsworth, to name just a few. Skúli was a close collaborator with Laurie Anderson for over a decade. Skúli has composed music for Víkingur Ólafsson, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Erna Ómarsdóttir. Skúli is known for his duo work alongside Ólöf Arnalds, Bára Gísladóttir and Bill Frisell. In the film world, Skúli has contributed to the scores of Hildur Guðnadóttir, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Bára Gísladóttir is an Icelandic composer and double bass player based in Copenhagen. Her work is generally based on reflections regarding the approach and concept of sound as a living being. She studied composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where she obtained master’s and doctoral degrees. Previously, she studied composition at the Conservatoire of Milan with Gabriele Manca and at the Icelandic Academy of Arts. Her works have been performed by both chamber groups and symphony orchestras, including the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. She is an active artist and regularly performs her own music, solo or with her seasoned collaborator, Skúli Sverrisson, with whom we can see her at NUMA 023.

The set plays with improvisations and hunches, producing new creations before our eyes. Bára and Skúli have a very peculiar connection, which manages to masterfully blend sounds that are drastically different. Their performance is immensely physical and intense, in their hands, instruments are contorted, filling the room with a sonority that invites us to let go and explore new sensations of the essence of Iceland, the land of fire and ice.