WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT

One of Festival of Perth highlights was a Scandinavian singing group, Akervinda. Named for a Swedish wildflower whose roots spread far and wide, the award-winning group is made up of four jazz singers – Lise Kroner, Iris Bergcrantz, Linda Bergström and Agnes Åhlund – united by a deep love of folk music. In the words of their publicity" "Celebrated for their fresh, modern interpretations, and praised across folk, jazz and a cappella scenes, they breathe new life into traditional Scandinavian folk tunes." 



Their concert was at St Mary's Cathedral and the first thing that surprised me about the event was that there was a bar outside! I've never seen a church, let alone a Catholic cathedral, serve wine outside as well as inside! The second surprise was that their folk songs are rather pagan in concept and the concert, Spellbound,was built around spells - a journey through nature, love, tradition, womanhood & witchcraft. There was even a song for about difficult choices when women are denied the right to control their own bodies - a recipe for a certain tea should "something happen'. I love the idea that with great purity and joy, a song about abortion was performed in a Catholic Church.



The four singers are extraodinary. Even if one doesn't understand the Swedish or Danish words, the sounds they create together are exquisite: https://www.akervinda.com/about

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