Bassist & composer Sigmar Matthiasson's sound is best described as a magnificent blend of hardcore groove and colorful melodies with influences ranging from Megadeth and Led Zeppelin to Jaco Pastorius and Ray Brown. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, Sigmar started playing bass around the age of 16. He was first introduced to jazz when studying at the F.I.H. School of Music where he graduated from in 2012. Later on Sigmar furthered his jazz studies at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York, where he studied with many of the most renowned jazz educators and musicians in New York City. He graduated with honors in the spring of 2016. Sigmar has been an active performer on the Icelandic music scene for several years, performing and/or recording with many of the most in-demand pop and jazz musicians in Iceland, including Eyþór Gunnarsson, Einar Scheving, Jóel Pálsson and Ragnheiður Gröndal. In addition Matthiasson has performed at many international festivals, including London Jazz Festival in England, Oslo Jazz Festival in Norway, Jazz Finland Festival in Helsinki, Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Nordic Jazz Festival in Washington DC and Reykjavík Jazz Festival in Iceland. His most recent solo project is ÁRÓRA that plays Matthiasson’s original music. Áróra's debut performance was at the Reykjavík Jazz Festival in 2014 and in 2018 the band celebrated the release of their self-titled debut album which was recorded at Sigurros' legendary studio Sundlaugin and released on September 7th 2018. The ten original compositions combine jazz with different genres to create a surprising mixture of powerful and lyrical music with an adventurous, yet still a stable outcome. Matthiasson was very honored to get two nominations for The Icelandic Music Awards this year – he was nominated as jazz composer of the year in addition to one of his songs from the Áróra album, Norðurljós, was nominated as jazz composition of the year.
