Hilary Hahn's Silfra emerged from a carefully cultivated and organically developed collaboration over two years between the American violinist Hilary Hahn and the German pianist Hauschka. Their partnership was primarily sparked by mutual curiosity and an interest in each other's creative methods.
At the heart of the album is the experimental research process, in which both musicians were free to explore their musical visions. The pieces on Silfra were entirely improvised and created directly during the recording sessions at the renowned Greenhouse Studio in Reykjavik. Valgeir Sigurdsson, a well-known Icelandic producer and label owner, was responsible for the production. The name Silfra refers to the rift valley of the same name in Iceland, located at the intersection of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, whose extraordinary nature inspired the musicians' work.