kimi [cʰɪːmɪ]
(Icelandic) a cultural niche or a small narrow, corner.
the ensemble/
Contemporary, collaborative, innovative, out-of-the-box.
"I have to say, I have not been this overtaken by a contemporary musical performance since 1994 when I attended the Boston Symphony Orchestra's performance of Yo Yo Ma's debut performance [...] The unusual and strikingly harmonic mix of operatic vocals (oh my, what a voice!), accordion and percussion were a complete and lush surprise."
-Audience member after KIMI’s performance
at Mechanics' Hall, Portland (ME)New music has not sounded so unabashedly plaintive for five hundred years. […] Elegance radiates from the Renaissance pastiche, as does sincerity […] The two musicians - Jónas Ásgeirsson on accordion, Katerina Anagnostidou on marimba - sensitively amplify Þórgunnur Anna Örnólfsdóttir's captivating lament. Together […] they sound like much more than a trio […]
Bittersweet effectively alternates between gentle repetition, thoughtful silence and sudden bursts of painful beauty. The movements are restrained, the tranquillity of contemplation is counterbalanced just right by the tremolo of the marimba and the accordion's careful tension curves of intensity. It is simply a little gem that Martin and the Kimi trio have created.