Two acclaimed improvisers, Norway’s Sissel Vera Pettersen and Canada’s Meredith Bates, will meet on stage at Mleczarnia Club & Café for a duo performance.

Sissel Vera Pettersen is a vocalist, saxophonist, composer, and visual artist, who has long been associated with the Copenhagen improvised music scene. She quickly went beyond traditional roles, using her voice as a source of sound and texture, as well as a tool for direct expression, through extended techniques, whispering, vocalise, and improvisation. Over time, she has expanded her instrumental palette to include electronics, crafting a distinctive creative language. Her latest release is Lento (2024), an intimate album recorded with guitarist Mikkel Ploug and clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst.

Meredith Bates is a Canadian violinist, violist, and composer currently based on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. For over two decades, she has worked at the intersection of improvised, contemporary, experimental, and chamber music, collaborating with various ensembles. As a leader, or rather a soloist, she stands out for her remarkably cohesive and distinctive artistic vision. She creates long, ambient compositions, playing a wide array of instruments and incorporating unconventional sound sources. Her album Tesseract was nominated for a JUNO Award, Canada’s most prestigious music honour, often compared to the Grammy. With the release of her latest album, The Observer Effect – Books I & II, earlier this year, the listener’s attention is drawn to the nature of perception and the way the act of listening itself shapes the music. Bates has collaborated with Chris Gestrin, Scott Morgan, and Curtis Andrews on some of the tracks featured on the album.