Simon Garcia writes: "Finland is a beautiful country where people are still closely related to nature. One of the atmospheric phenomena that fascinates me are the Northern Lights. People can spend hours looking at the sky as if bewitched, this magical effect is what I try to describe in this small pizzicato work.

Northern Lights is a reworking of Polar Lights, composed for Teppo-Fest 2016 and originally for unaccompanied double bass, also for double bass duet, and has been extended and developed retaining a simple and evocative serenity which captures the magic and mystery of the northern lights in all their beauty and majesty."

Bassist and composer Simon Garcia was born in Mugardos (Spain) in 1977 and graduated in double bass from the Conservatorio Superior of Salamanca. He has worked as a double bassist in the Royal Orchestra of Galicia, having also performed in many orchestras throughout Spain, and is the bassist in the Symphony Wind Orchestra of A. Coruna. He has collaborated with many musicians and ensembles, particularly in the field of contemporary music, and has recorded and performed on many commercial recordings and for television and radio broadcasts.

Simon Garcia has composed more than twenty works for double bass, ranging from two to six players, alongside transcriptions of these pieces for various chamber ensembles. His music has been performed in Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Denmark, Spain, Japan, Italy, Austria, Germany, Canada, USA and UK by The Bass Gang, Bass Instinct and Il Quint-etto amongst others, and some of his music was used as teaching material in the 2011 ISB Year of Collaborative Music.

Simon Garcia's music is livly, jazzy and rhythmic with great forward momentum and drive. Accessible for players and audiences alike, he writes colourful music of distinction and energy, employing the entire range of the double bass.