West Stockbridge — Skye Consort and Emma Björling will appear at The Foundry on Tuesday, October 1, to perform music from Scandinavia, Ireland, Scotland, England, and French Canada, as well as original material.
The group comprises:
- Emma Björling — lead vocal, percussion
- Seán Dagher — Irish bouzouki, banjo, lead vocal
- Amanda Keesmaat — cello, vocals
- Alex Kehler — nyckelharpa, violin, vocals
- Simon Alexandre — nyckelharpa, violin, vocals
But first, who is Emma Björling, and why does the group give her separate billing?
Emma Björling is a Swedish singer best known for her work in Scandinavian folk and a cappella music, and she gets separate billing because she is like a permanent guest in the group. Björling is a member of several vocal groups, including Kongero, which appeared at The Foundry last December, and Nordic singing group Åkervinda. Björling teaches at a folk-music college and at the department of music and media in Piteå. She conducts workshops in traditional Swedish music and writes arrangements for vocal groups.
Seán Dagher composes, arranges, and performs music from various folk and classical music traditions. He won the OPUS “Creation of the Year” award in 2014 for “Sea Songs” and has been nominated for numerous Adisq awards.
Amanda Keesmaat is principal cellist of Arion Baroque orchestra and has performed with Les Charbonniers de L’Enfer, OktoEcho, Jean-François Bélanger, and Projet ClaireObscur. She is the founder of Space Time Continuo and a regular collaborator with La Nef.
Based in Quebec, Alex Kehler is a member of La Nef, Soulwood, Kehler Williams duo, Les Siffleurs de Nuits, and Triton. He plays fiddle, violin, and cittern and is considered one of Canada’s leading nyckelharpa players. He is also part of the Québecois and New England traditional music scene. Since 2011, Alex has dedicated himself to Scandinavian music, playing nyckleharpa and studying with Torbjörn Näsböm, Magnus Holmstöm, and David Eriksson.
The group’s latest album, released last May, is “Ode & Ballade.” Their own description of the album is definitive:
The songs on this album … contain stories of medieval saints and sacred wells, fair maidens outsmarting presumptuous knights, beautiful or boisterous drinking songs, thieves meeting their fate, heartbreaking love songs, groovy dance tunes, and celebrations of the return of the Spring.
Writing for CBC Music, Robert Rowat gave this advice: “If you’re lucky enough to have a cottage to escape to when the warm weather hits, take this album with you.”
And Leslie Barcza wrote: “I think it speaks for itself, the musicianship, the powerful invocation of times gone by. The whole CD is magical like that, sometimes in Swedish sometimes French sometimes English.”
Hear Skye Consort and Emma Björling on Tuesday, October 1, at The Foundry, 2 Harris Street, West Stockbridge. Tickets are available here. Seating and the bar open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call (413) 232-5222.
Parking is limited at the venue, so please use one of the three public parking lots in town: one across from the Post Office, one behind Berkshire Bank, and one just off Main Street. Whatever you do, don’t park at Trúc Orient Express Restaurant or the Post Office, unless you want to get a parking ticket.
