Norwegian violinist and composer Inger Hannisdal (b. 1991 in Oslo) works at the intersection of folk, improvised and contemporary music. She combines folk music timbres with contemporary impulses, shifting between composed and improvised structures. Focusing on microtonality, she draws on modes from both Norwegian and Middle Eastern traditions, crafting a personal musical language from their shared characteristics: quarter tones and uneven time.
Exposed to contemporary classical from a young age and with an early education in both classical and jazz violin, she completed a bachelor in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean studies at Sciences Po Paris (2012-2015) and then studied Arabic music and violin at Université Antonine in Lebanon (2016-2019). Inger also performs traditional Middle Eastern music in a number of ensembles - including popular Syrian folk music group Assa’aleek - spanning from tarab and folk to classical Arabic and Persian music.
