Guitarist and composer Niels Brouwer and singer and lyricist Monica Akihary have successfully performed as a duo under the name BOI AKIH since 1997.
For more than 20 years, their band has entranced listeners and garnered critical acclaim. A BOI AKIH concert is an unforgettable experience. With Akihary’s precise timing, tone and charismatic personality, she instantly touches the listener’s heart, just as Brouwer’s abstract passages are warm and engaging throughout.

BOI AKIH’s repertoire features exciting and groundbreaking explorations that highlight the layered nature of different musical traditions. Their unique sound results from the constant interaction between the musicians and the sources they draw from. It’s a sound that’s unconventional yet accessible, and always offers the audience a glimpse into a world full of emotion and color.

When Akihary won last year’s prestigious Boy Edgar Prize, the most important Dutch prize for jazz and improvised music, the jury proclaimed her “an inspired connector and storyteller” and “a singer who uses her powerful voice as an instrument and displays an unprecedentedly broad palette of timbres.”

Reviews have been equally glowing. In its January 2024 edition, JazzNu wrote: “Monica Akihary’s voice is a chapter in itself. In addition to the fact that she impresses in all registers, she has an almost mysterious haze, which fits beautifully into Niels Brouwer’s concept that transcends many boundaries.”

And, in October 2023, Salt Peanuts described Akihary as “an original and highly skilled vocalist and sound artist,” who, together with Brouwer, “has evolved into one of Europe’s leading vocal artists.”

In August 2023, Jazzism referred to BOI AKI’S sound as: “A special listening experience because they also color outside the lines.”

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