“Lots of groups combine elements of music from Scandinavia, Ireland, Scotland, England, and French Canada. None of them do it like Skye Consort.” ~ The Berkshire Edge
Recipients of the prestigious Opus Award for 2019 Album of the Year with their debut (World music and Traditional Québec music), Skye Consort & Emma Björling perform trans-Atlantic chamber folk arrangements of songs and tunes from Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Scotland, England, Québec, Acadia, the USA, as well as original compositions. Each musician brings their own individual interpretation to these traditions to create an extraordinary collaboration, consisting of voices, fiddle, nyckelharpa, cello, bouzouki, banjo, and percussion. Together they produce an assortment of whirling polskas, moving reels, passionate love songs, and breathtaking hymns and songs.
The release of their second album, Ode & Ballade, released in 2024 has sent them touring the globe once again across North America and Scandinavia, selling out venues and making new friends and fans wherever they go. This acclaimed album comprises stories of medieval saints and sacred wells, fair maidens outsmarting presumptuous knights, beautiful or boisterous drinking songs, thieves meeting their fate, heartbreaking love songs, and groovy dance tunes. 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.”
