EMMA & ELLIKA

Emma Reid, fiddle and viola
Ellika Frisell, fiddle and viola

Emma & Ellika, two master musicians in a musical interplay cooking with drive and richness of colour. Tight, attentive and wilful, always with the groove at the core.

Deeply rooted in the Swedish fiddle tradition, Emma & Ellika play tunes and improvised second voices with power and variety. New compositions by both Emma and Ellika stand side by side with traditional material from Bingsjö and Orsa in the county of Dalarna. Fiddles and re-tuned violas; voices with strongly personal expressions.
Blue notes, gravity, lift, improvisation and dance are present in this world where the heritage from master musicians such as Nils Agenmark, Gössa Anders Andersson, Solo Cissokho and K. Shivakumar become a red thread in both musicians’ rich experiences. A story informed not only by Swedish fiddle music but also by music from other cultures and genres.

The meeting between Emma Reid and Ellika Frisell began in 2000, first in a teacher-student relationship at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and then as a collaboration between two musicians with a shared background and source of inspiration. Two generations where the creative expression is seamlessly welded together. Over the years Emma & Ellika have performed at numerous concert and dance stages in Sweden and the UK. The intention has always been to record the music, and with their 2024 debut album VÄDER the project has become reality. On three tracks guest appearances are made by Anders Löfberg, cello, and Rafael Sida, percussion, in the dream project EMMA ELLIKA EXTRA.

Emma Reid, a star in the new generation of fiddlers, has roots in both the English and Swedish tradition and is now one of Sweden’s most sought-after musicians. With a powerful self-expression and experience from several genres, Reid has developed a deeply personal playing style. She tours in Scandinavia and the UK together with Ronström Reid, Malin Foxdal, Grovt & grant and the English string quartet Methera. Reid is a National Fiddler and has received both the Päkkos Gustaf and Viksta-Lasse scholarships. She often collaborates with storytellers and dancers and has worked as theatre musician at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. Reid is currently also a teacher of fiddle at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

Ellika Frisell is a stubbornly curious, established veteran on the Swedish folk and world music scene. She has received much acclaim for her life work to further develop the living heritage from her teachers Thore Härdelin, Päkkos Gustaf and Nils Agenmark, both as artist and teacher. Frisell has also studied with Indian violinist K. Shivakumar, and has received the Manifest Prize, a Grammy and the BBC World Music Award for her acclaimed collaboration with kora player Solo Cissokho. In 2021 she was awarded the prestigious Folk Music Prize from the Swedish Royal Music Academy for her contributions to Swedish folk music.

“…In the duo category I must emphasise Ellika Frisell and Emma Reid as the finest. Or rather the most intimate and attentive.” (translated from Swedish)

Review from Linköping Folk Music Festival