Vigdís Þóra and Helga Margrét met at FÍH's music school and primarily bonded over a shared interest in jazz music. They also had a similar background, both coming from classical music studies. They have performed regularly at concerts, among other things to a packed house at Hinsegin days 2023 in Iðnó, held a Christmas concert and sang at events such as weddings and baptisms. At this concert, they will sing many of their favorite gems of Icelandic jazz along with their own original material.
The event is sponsored by VERDANI art fund, which is a joint project of Akureyri town, Menningarfélagin Hof and Menningafélag Akureyr.
Vigdís Þóra is a singer and songwriter. She played the flute as a child, but then began studying classical singing at Reykjavík's Singing School and later Sigurðar Demetz's Singing School. After finishing the 6th grade, she said goodbye to singing and started studying at the University of Iceland in anthropology and art.
After a few years' break from music, she found that singing still drew her and she should try singing lessons again. In the fall of 2020, she therefore began studying rhythmic jazz singing at the FíH Conservatory of Music and has not looked back since. There she found a deep connection to jazz, blues and soul music as well as starting to compose her own music. She also added a master's degree in pedagogy at the Iceland Academy of the Arts with a focus on music education. She graduated from there in the spring of 2023.
Vigdís Þóra works today as a music teacher and musician. She has been a member of the Hamrahlíðar choir since 2011 and participated in a number of projects with the choir in Iceland and abroad, including with Björk in the Cornucopia concert series in New York and in Europe. She has regularly performed at concerts both inside and outside the walls of FíH. She is aiming for an advanced degree in rhythmic singing in the spring of 2024. Furthermore, Vigdís Þóra aims to publish her own music as well as to promote herself as both a singer and a songwriter.
Helga Margrét Clarke was born and raised in Akureyri. She grew up in a very musical household where both parents are musicians. Helga Margrét began classical piano studies at the age of three at the Music Academy in Akureyri. She put music on the shelf for years while attending university. Helga completed her B.Sc. degree in nursing from the University of Akureyri in 2007 and then took a master's degree in public health sciences from the University of Iceland in 2013.
It wasn't until 2013 that she started composing again, singing and playing with her sister in the band Sister Sister, but then she rekindled her interest in singing and songwriting. In autumn 2020, she started rhythmic singing studies at the FÍH music school with Jóhanna Linnet and Margréti Eir.
Helga Margrét has been performing as a singer both with fellow students and professional musicians, where she performs, among other things, her own compositions. Helga aims to graduate from FÍH in the spring of 2024 and start a career as both a singer and a songwriter.