About this artist
Steindor Andersen is one of a very few remaining masters of rimur (a form of Icelandic epic song and chant). Born in 1954, he took a relatively early liking to the poetry on which the chanting is based, which led to a membership in IDUNN, a society devoted to the preservation of rimur, from where he soon began chanting as well. His talents soon became known, leading to concerts, recordings, and appearances largely throughout Iceland, culminating in a collaboration with the Icelandic supergroup Sigur Rós, which earned him a surprising amount of notoriety for an otherwise ignored form. Along with the traditional forms of epic song, Andersen spends a good deal of effort in cross-germination with more contemporary forms to allow a greater audience for rimur. Along with performances and his usual work as a fisherman and ship captain, Andersen has also served as president of IDUNN since 1997. His largest and most recent solo recording is 2003′s Rimur on Naxos World. ~ Adam Greenberg