BIT20 Ensemble

The Icelandic composer Bára Gísladóttir likes to think of sound as a living being and often creates music with that as her starting point. At this concert, BIT20 Ensemble will perform her 2023 work 'The moon is an eye is a pond and so on and so forth'.

'It’s a kind of art-metal for sinfonietta, says Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason, the newly appointed artistic director of the BIT20 Ensemble.

Like Bára Gísladóttir, Bjarnason is also Icelandic, a composer and musician in addition to being a conductor and artistic director for BIT20 Ensemble. The Bergen-based contemporary music ensemble has garnered numerous accolades over its 35-year history and has achieved success both at home and abroad. Previous collaboration with Bára Gísladóttir has inspired the ensemble to delve deeper into the music of the sought-after composer.

In connection with the concert, there will be an open rehearsal with Bára Gísladóttir and Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason for the young composers affiliated with the Festival Academy of Bergen (FAB).

Above: Bára Gísladóttir. Photo: Anna Maggý

The works of Bára Gísladóttir are characterised by a deep and self-reflective calm, at times producing an almost meditative state in the music. In her pieces, time is as likely to move in circles as it is moving forwards towards a distinct goal.

- SUNE ANDERBERG, MUSIC JOURNALIST