Minorie presents: Katya Shirshkova (RU/FR) + Tomáš Niesner (CZ)

Katya Shirshkova was born in Siberia but now lives in France. Using her voice as her only instrument, she builds multiple vocal layers via a looper, creating polyphonic harmonies with an ethereal quality. At this concert, she performs 'Le Héron', a four-part composition released in 2025 on the Stellage label. Each part represents a life stage, symbolized by a bird - a narrative approach drawing on archetypes from legends and folk traditions. Shirshkova has toured extensively throughout Europe; this is her first performance in the Netherlands. A collaboration with Roxane Métayer - who performed at Minorie in September 2025 - was released in June 2026 on Edições CN.

Czech guitarist and sound artist Tomáš Niesner opens the evening. He became known in folk and fingerpicking circles as half of the duo Šimanský Niesner and as a solo artist with multiple albums on the Czech label Stoned To Death, blending influences from American Primitive and English and European folk music. On his most recent album 'adventous mmxxv', he turns his attention to Eastern Europe: he reinterprets songs from old hymnals for guitar, supplemented with subtle electronic layers, preserving only the core of the melodies.