Giesta is one of the most common bushes in Iberian Peninsula. It invades hills growing in every possible surface.
As a duo, Giesta focuses on the overlap between early western notated music and oral traditions of Mediterranean countries. Joana and Irene use their voices, recorders and traditional percussion as tools to transform and reinvent these repertoires. With an historical performance background, they tap into the overlap between these traditions and deconstruct them through composing and arranging, improvisation and contemporary techniques. Coming from Portugal and Spain, the duo is based in the Netherlands where they met while studying.
Both Joana and Irene graduated from a Bachelor in Recorder in the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Currently, each of them is studying singing in the Netherlands: Joana is attending a bachelor program in classical voice in the Utrechts Conservatorium HKU Utrecht with Selma Harkink and Irene is following a masters in the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Xenia Meijer.
Giesta has performed in several venues in Amsterdam: Splendor (2017), Encuentro 4 (2021), Oosterkerk (2021). They have also joined an artistic residency in Little House curated by storyteller Xina Mercken (2020).