Myra Melford, Angelika Niescier and Anna Gréta for first ever Freyjufest

The first edition of Freyjufest takes place in January 2023 at Harpa in downtown Reykjavik. The festival features six acts that are all making waves on the international jazz scene. From explosive veterans of the Avant Garde scene such as Myra Melford and Angelika Niescier, to major new talents in Nordic jazz such as Anna Gréta and Ingibjörg Turchi. Throw into the mix a trumpetist/goat horn player from the Norwegian fjords and an arranger from the Swiss Alps - this event will be sure to melt the coldest Icelandic night.

The festival is organised and run by Icelandic international piano star Sunna Gunnlaughs who for many years has been raising the profile of jazz in the country. Sunna is also trying to encourage and bring more female players to perform in Iceland which in turn will encourage Icelandic female players to get tuned in to jazz.

I spoke to Sunna about her new festival which will take place 21 January 2023:

“When I moved back from New York (after living there for 12 years) I was surprised that there weren’t more women on the jazz scene in Iceland. I had been the first female jazz instrumentalist and it seemed like in the 12 years that I had been away nothing had changed.

I learned that women had pursued jazz studies in Iceland (and even abroad) but for some reason had not really entered the scene. When I took on directing the Reykjavik Jazz Festival, I noticed that hardly any women were applying for a spot on the festival. In 2017 I started a concert series called Freyjujazz to address this situation.

Freyja is a Norse goddess, a symbol of creativity and fertility. I wanted to create more opportunities for women in jazz and make them visible. I figured I could open the door, so to speak, to the scene and by having a concert series that required every act to have at least one female member I would create opportunities for everyone on the scene.

Since there were very few female instrumentalists here in Iceland I made an effort to bring in female artists from other countries. The Freyjujazz concert series took place in 2017, 2018, 2019 and in that time I had female artists from Norway, Germany, Hungary, USA & Estonia. The concert series was awarded “event of the year” in 2017 by the Icelandic Music Awards and was also nominated in the following two years. 

During COVID-19 times I arranged funding to put together a festival but couldn’t follow through until now. Freyjufest is supported by the City of Reykjavik, The Music Fund, Styrktarsjóður Rutar Hermanns, Inspired by Iceland as well as the Europe Jazz Network, Goethe Institute, and Nordic Culture Point. 

Apart from having a festival with focus on gender balance I wanted to create an event where the artists would feel empowered and get to connect with each other instead of just flying in and out.

I had been speaking with Sarah Chaksad since before COVID-19 about her doing a project here with a mix of local artists and her key people and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity. Two of the Icelandic groups, Anna Gréta (pictured below) and Ingibjörg Turchi, are both young and doing interesting, yet very different things. They seemed like a logical choice to participate and also very important representatives of young Icelandic female jazz artists.

Anna Gréta is now based in Sweden and is bringing Swedes Konrad Agnas and Johan Tengholm with her.

Ingibjörg’s group also features young Icelandic players that are all doing innovative things on the music scene here. The group Broken Cycle is a collective trio with Angelika Niescier, Hilmar Jensson and Scott McLemore who are all veterans of the international scene and have been playing in Iceland and abroad for a number of years.

Pianist Myra Melford was the very first artist to perform at the Freyjujazz concert series in 2017 so I was very happy that she accepted my invitation to return. She is a brilliant player and although more associated with the avant-garde to me she is a great connector between the more adventurous performers at the festival and the more melodic.

Anneleen Boehme I first discovered with the Belgian group Lab Trio. I heard her play solo bass at Gaume Jazz Festival last year and I knew I had to bring her here. She has a beautiful way of embracing both the traditions of jazz whilst moving it forward. I would love to see more international players in Iceland. We get a handful of international artists at the Reykjavik Jazz Festival and also at another small concert series that I organize called Jazz i Salnum. 

I don’t want Freyjufest to be defined by a style of jazz or a certain sound but rather by intent, passion and quality.

I hope that Freyjufest will become a gender balanced event, one that represents the world, with all colours and all genders. The world is more beautiful in colour.”

Festival Line Up:

Broken Cycle (DE/IS/USA)

Angelika Niescier (alto sax) Hilmar Jensson (guitar), Scott McLemore (drums) (supported by the Goethe-Institute)

Anneleen Boehme (BE)

Anneleen Boehme (double bass)

Ingibjörg Turchi Band (IS)

Ingibjörg Turchi (electric bass), Tumi Árnason (tenor sax, clarinet) Hróðmar Sigurðsson (guitar), Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson (piano & Fender Rhodes), Magnús Trygvason Eliassen (drums)

Anna Gréta Trio (IS/SE)

Anna Gréta Sigurðardóttir (piano vocals), Johan Tengholm (double bass) Konrad Agnas (drums)

Myra Melford (USA)

Myra Melford (solo piano)

Sarah Chaksad Ensemble (CH,DE,NO,IS,BE,USA)

Sarah Chaksad (alto sax), Angelike Niescier (alto sax), Charlie Rose (tenor sax), Hildegunn Øiseth (trumpet), Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir (trombone), Sunna Gunnlaugs (piano), Anneleen Boehme (double bass) Scott McLemore (drums)

A day ticket to see all events is £46 and flights are available to Reykjavik from London, Bristol and other regional airports - for more info visit www.freyjufest.is