La Ballade of Lady & The Bird: Album & One Off Paris Show

On 5 June 2008, Keren Ann Zeidel and Barði Jóhannsson (Bang Gang) provided the closing performance at the Reykjavik Art festival. Their act went down so well that the festival director was keen to invite them back to perform a new work in 2010. They were accompanied, for the first time, by the renowned Iceland Symphony Orchestra a classical ensemble featuring over 80 musicians and conducted by Daniel Kawka (Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lille National Orchestra, Warsaw Symphony Orchestra and Liege Philharmonic Orchestra).

Their musical programme drew on compositions by Lady and Bird the Keren Ann Zeidel and Barði Jóhannsson double act, and on Keren Ann and Barði’s respective repertoires rearranged by Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson. The concert recording provided the springboard for a new Keren Ann and Barði album - La Ballade Of Lady & Bird - conceived as a studio production. The two artistswent to work on the raw material, resulting in a real studio album rather than a simple live recording. The project has been released as a CD and digital album, and a special concert is scheduled for 27 October at the Salle Pleyel in Paris.