The Ukrainian avant-garde singer and songwriter Svitlana Nianio and the British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser Tom James Scott come together in a new magical duo collaboration. Their album “Eye of the Sea” (2023) is an ambient neo-folk work of romantic, phantasmagorical beauty, where layered piano compositions evoke memories of chamber music and liturgical music from the 20th century. In April, they will be visiting ALICE.

The Ukrainian avant-garde singer and songwriter Svitlana Nianio and the British multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser Tom James Scott have created a new magical duo collaboration. Their creative partnership began back in 2017 when Scott officially released Nianio’s enchanting recording from 1995, “Lisova Kolekciya.” It marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration that led to the album “Eye of the Sea” (Skire Records, 2023). The album is constructed of layered piano compositions that the two musicians have exchanged with each other and gradually built upon. The result is a work of romantic, phantasmagorical beauty suffused with morning light; a work that draws on ambient minimalism and chamber music and liturgical music from the 20th century.

Svitlana Nianio
Svitlana Nianio, also known as Svitlana Ohrimenko, is a Ukrainian avant-garde singer and songwriter with roots in religious and traditional music. Nianio emerged on Kyiv’s experimental scene in the early 1990s, where she was a member of the group Tsukor Bila Smert, produced albums with the iconic musician Oleksandr Yurchenko, and released solo records. She disappeared from the music scene for more than a decade, after which her music experienced significant renewed international interest during the 2010s. This led to reissues of some of her albums and a return to live performances in 2017, where she initiated collaborations with, among others, Tom James Scott.

Tom James Scott
Tom James Scott is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser who works with guitar and piano as well as samplers, keyboards, percussion, and a plethora of analog and digital production methods to create an intimate, often diary-like sonic world. He has released solo albums through labels such as Alter, Students of Decay, Where To Now?, and – notably – his own label Skire Records. Tom James Scott has released several duo albums with, among others, Andrew Chalk and created sound designs closely with the filmmaker Laurence Campbell.

ALICE at Stairway
While the concert hall at Nørre Allé 7 is undergoing renovation, ALICE is located at the music venue Stairway in Vanløse.