Take someone who grew up playing chess.
Take someone who grew up baking cakes.
Put them together to write a song.
What happens?
In January 2023, Aurora Marchese and Mikael Máni Ásmundsson met in Amsterdam, brought together by a shared love of lyrics, jazz ballads and, unexpectedly, chocolate. This mutual sensitivity laid the foundation for their undeniable chemistry.
Their artistic synergy grew within the vibrant and multicultural music scene of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, an environment that became a natural meeting point for their contrasting yet harmonious personalities.
Mikael’s Icelandic background and poetic approach to the guitar meets Aurora’s Italian sensibility and strong connection to voice and storytelling, shaping a musical language where sound and narrative develop together.
This meeting of perspectives shapes their music, where songs unfold as cinematic journeys through musical images that create a distinctive atmosphere: cool, nuanced undertones alongside a warm, lyrical presence.
What defines their collaboration is captured in the name itself. From the Greek χημεία, “to fuse together”, KHEMEIA describes a space where two distinct musical perspectives gradually become one.
Over time, this way of working has led to a repertoire that can exist in different forms. While the project is rooted in a voice and guitar setting, its music can expand in performance into an ensemble, allowing for greater energy, interplay and dynamic range, without losing its core identity
Since its formation, KHEMEIA has been presented across various European contexts, including a showcase at the Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam, supported by Amarte Fonds, and projects connected to Fondazione Estro Musicale in Italy, which also supported the recording of their debut album.
In 2025, they began releasing their first music with the singles “Little Bird” and “The Lake”. Later that year, their debut album “KHEMEIA”, released on RNC Music, was nominated for Best Album at the Icelandic Music Awards 2026.
Their work has also been featured on DC Notte, broadcast on Radio Splash and Como Radio International. In 2026, the project was selected as a finalist at the Grachtenfestival Jazz Competition, marking an important step in its ongoing development within the European scene.
