“ New Swedish jazz sensation”
— Bengt Eriksson, Ystad Allehanda
I knew that I wanted to become a singer already when I, at the age of four, sang in my mother’s choir. I was the most serious and dedicated choir member, and not for a second did I realize how funny it must have looked with a tiny four-year-old in the middle of much older kids. To create music and art was a very normal part of our daily lives in my family. Life was music and music was life. The dream of becoming a singer was therefore never looked upon as a neither strange nor naive dream.
”Iris Bergcrantz is a vocal equilibrist, and she uses her great talent to create, not to show off. Time after time her singing makes your ears cry with joy.”
— Björn G Stenberg
I am inspired by many different musical genres. When it comes to improvised music I think there is an honesty that is hard to come by and to me, it is very beautiful that a piece can develop in completely different musical spectrums depending on the mood, energy, and simply the moment it is played. I love adventurous film music, powerful soundscapes, classical impressionism, folk music from all over the world, alternative pop music and so on. I do not necessarily think I belong to any one genre, my music is instead a mix of everything I am inspired by.
” This girl is a force of nature”
— Arnaldo Desouteiro, Jazz Station (Jazz Bossa and Beyond)
I have released two albums in my own name, and they are very different from one another, but also similar in some ways. On both albums you can clearly hear what influences I grew up with even if these influences inspired me in different ways on each album. I am also a member of the folk music á cappella group Åkervinda. We have all influenced each other in many ways, and being a part of this band has really made my passion for folk music grow strong.
“ Would she immediately put herself among Sweden’s - even the world's foremost jazz vocalists? Answer: Yes.”
— Bengt Eriksson, Ystad Allehanda
When I was younger I wanted to become a competitive horseback rider and for a while I was really serious about it and quite good. I even competed in the Swedish cup. My family had moved to the countryside, I guess my parents wanted to live out a dream of becoming part time farmers. They bought six horses, and a litter of puppies gave us sixteen Golden Retrievers at the time: In a short period of time we went from a life in the city to one surrounded by animals. I could not have been be happier! I embraced the country life head-first, but as I got older the dream of becoming a singer started to come to the surface again, which made me move back to my hometown Malmö to study music when I was 16.
Music has taken me to many unexpected places around the world and I am very grateful to be able to sing for a living.
My favourite music memories are singing on live television at Allsång på Skansen, performing at the Rochester Jazz Festival in New York State, and being nominated for both a Swedish Grammy and a Danish Music Award.
