Björnsdotter • Reid two fiddlers from Sweden

Did you ever see two robins chasing each other on a spring day? In a fury of trills and twirls, they manage to stay one right behind the other, with effortless acrobatics. When Emma Reid and Alicia Björnsdotter Abrams take on a tune, they launch into a playful chase much like that. The two fiddles bend and tease, take a turn, and then one follows smoothly the other. Some of the raw, ancient qualities of Swedish music are mixed with elegant harmony parts.

Swedish fiddle music being dance music, the two of them almost dance on stage. And it is hard not to join in - their love of the music is infectious. These two young women step boldly right out of the Swedish fiddle tradition and range into the British Isles. Emma and Alicia both have a performance degree in traditional Swedish music from the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and Emma is currently studying towards a Master in Music at Newcastle University in England. Alongside Swedish music, the vibrant fiddle tradition of the Shetland Isles has a special place in their duo repertoire. They have each studied with a Shetland fiddle master; Alicia with Aly Bain and Emma with Catriona MacDonald.