This Sunday, March 3rd at 7:00pm, The Fort Garry Hotel in collaboration with Jazz Winnipeg will be presenting the fabulous Icelandic vocalist, pianist and composer Sigurdís.
Sigurdís grew up in northern Iceland and in 2013 she moved to Reykjavik to pursue jazz studies. Eventually she relocated to Denmark where she completed a Master’s in Composition and Jazz Performance, from the Danish Academy of Music.
Hailed for her compositions for both small and large jazz ensembles, she is making a name for herself as one to watch out for as an up-and-coming talent. For Sunday’s concert Sigurdís will be joined by local Canadian musicians for a show that promises to be a diverse musical experience.
Sigurdís is coming to Winnipeg as a guest artist of the Consulate General of Iceland. Richard Gillis, leader of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and Professor at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music, was asking around for guest artists that he could feature. Sigurdís was recommended to Gillis by her teacher and mentor, the amazing Canadian jazz piano virtuoso David Braid.
Braid was giving lessons at the Danish National Academy of Music and Sigurdís went to Braid for help. As she says, “I was struggling…I was a late starter in jazz, and I was missing some fundamentals in my playing. He helped me with so many things…he is one of rare people who’s a great musician, but he’s also so great at giving information…he’s a really generous teacher. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today if it wasn’t for him.”
Sigurdís has monopolized on these learned opportunities, and is quickly turning into a real star in her own right.
On Sunday night at the Fort Garry, she will be performing some of her original tunes, as well as her own re-imagining of popular jazz standards. This is something that Sigurdís is very passionate about. “When I do that [re-imagining tunes] I start out the piano, so harmony usually comes first to me…and I also think a lot about the lyrics…what do these lyrics mean to me? Then I allow myself to travel through different tonalities, change the colors of the chords, and even slightly change the melody.”
Sigurdís will be performing both instrumental and vocal works, and performing in both English and Icelandic. “My connection to language, especially Icelandic…is deeply important to me as a musician. It’s not just about the words themselves it’s also about the emotional depth that they carry and how they interact with the music. What I love abut performing in Icelandic is that I can choose to explain the words or give the audience the opportunity to listen to the language without necessarily understanding…then I am allowed to deliver the emotion of pure music.”
The band joining Sigurdís on stage on Sunday night consists of some truly great Canadian jazz musicians. Tatyana Harschuck will be on drums, Lindsay Woolgar on bass, and on two tunes, she will be joined by Richard Gillis on trumpet, Niall Cade on saxophone, and Joel green on trombone.
Apart from the Jazz at the Fort Garry show on the 4th, Sigurdís will also be performing some of her own original tunes and re-imagined popular standards alongside the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra’s Women in Jazz 3.0. This is an event that takes place at The West End Cultural Centre on Thursday, March 7th at 7:30. It features a big band made up of an all-star lineup of women musicians. The event coincides with International Women’s Day on Friday, March 8th.
Sigurdís is very thrilled about this show as well. “I always love participating in projects promoting women, so I’m just really excited to meet all the musicians…this is actually the first time I will be able to perform my own music with a big band…I’m super excited about that!”
Two fabulous jazz shows featuring a true talent! Manitoban’s may be familiar with Iceland through Gimli, but Sigurdís is going to bring Iceland to Manitoba in an all new, beautiful and swinging’ way.
For more details about Sigurdís’ performance at the Fort Garry on Sunday, March 3rd visit the Jazz Winnipeg Website
For more details about the WJO’s Women in jazz 3.0 show on Thursday, March 7th visit the Winnipeg jazz Orchestra’s Website.
For more about Sigurdís check out her website and social media pages
https://www.sigurdis.com/https://www.facebook.com/sigurdismusichttps://www.instagram.com/sigurdismusic/