Recording sessions

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I am very excited to be recording music for the upcoming portrait album with wonderful performers. The album will be released in 2014 and the label that will be handling the release will be announced early next year.

I had a great recording session with Duo Harpverk at the Greenhouse Studios in Reykjavik the other day recording Tactility (2013), for percussion & harp. It is always a pleasure to work with those two - Frank and Katie are such darlings. 

Also, I just posted a short excerpt from Shades of Silence on the audio page, performed by Nordic Affect.

We are currently planning recording sessions for November of three more pieces, e.g. with CAPUT.
More info about the release soon! 

warmth, 
Anna

Greenland expedition # one

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Just got back from a very inspirational field trip to Greenland with a group of great artists and producers for a theatre project that we are starting to work on, I am very excited to share some more information about this soon!

This was truly an inspirational journey - for the first few days we stayed in Oqaatsut, a settlement of approximately 50 people, and then for a few days in Nuuk. The grand sensations from the dramatic landscapes are still flowing through my veins and I am very much looking forward to seeing how the project unfolds.

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Otherwise I am continuing working on the concert-length piece for the fabulous NY based ICE which will be premiered next spring, as well as working on a piece for electronics and piano for the festival Reykjavik Center for Visual Music, and working on a piece for chamber orchestra for the fantastic Norwegian BIT20 ensemble.

warmth,
Anna

Recording session with Nordic Affect & Duo Harpverk concert

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Just had a great recording session with Nordic Affect today in Reykjavik recording Shades of Silence. The piece will be featured on their album that will be out in 2014. 

Duo Harpverk will be performing Tactility on June 10th in a small space at the Reykjavik Art Museum. The concert starts at 8PM and will feature the program they performed at the Nordic Cool festival in Washington last March, plus one new piece. If you happen to be in Reykjavik I definitely recommend checking it out!

Miller Theatre announces next season's events

Miller Theatre has announced their 2013/14 season, and I am very excited to be featured in the Composer Portraits series as the Either/Or Ensemble will be giving a concert of my music at the Theatre on December 5th.

I am very much looking forward to working with Richard Carrick, David Shively and the rest of the Either/Or Ensemble next winter in NYC.

See here for more information about the concert, and here for the entire portraits.

ICElab Presents: Anna Thorvaldsdottir

​ICE has posted a video excerpt from the workshop we had in March. The workshop was a week long session where members of ICE and I were working on technical aspects of the new piece that will be premiered next season in NYC. The piece will be an entire concert length in duration and will feature 5 performers and a light installation. Apart from their instruments, the performers will also be "performing" on lights through their own breathing - i.e. rather than using the audio of their breathing their breaths will be converted into the lights of the installation.

Click on the image to see the video.

The piece will feature Kyle Armbrust on viola, Michael Nicolas on cello, Cory Smythe on piano, Ross Karre on percussion & Nuiko Wadden on harp, ​as well as lighting designer Nicholas Houfek & sound engineer Levy Lorenzo.

Needless to say I am having a great time working on the piece *​**v***

Kraumur Music Fund

I am extremely grateful for a generous grant from the Icelandic Kraumur Music Fund. The grant is awarded to prepare, release and promote a new portrait album. This is very exciting and now we have started to plan the second portrait release!​

The new portrait album will feature recordings performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Icelandic CAPUT Ensemble and other performers TBA.​

Needless to say I am very excited and enjoying the preparation for recordings and all other aspects of the release.​

More news about the release soon!

Next up - Tectonics in Reykjavik

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The workshop week with ICE was fantastic in early March and I am very much looking forward to our premiere next winter in NYC!
​Here are some pics from the workshop.

Next up is Tectonics in Reykjavik in mid April and I am very much looking forward to being back in Iceland and to attending the festival.

into - Second Self, for brass & percussion, will be premiered on the festival on April 19th at 8:30PM in Eldborg hall in Harpa by members of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov.
​The festival takes place between April 18th and 20th and there is a lot of interesting music on the program!​ Here is a link to this year's program.

ICElab workshop in March

I am very excited to be working with the NY based ICE this week on a new evening length piece that will be premiered in NYC fall 2013. Our workshop this week will end with a free public partial showing of the work in progress on Friday March 15th at 6:30PM at the ICEhaus in Brooklyn. For more information about the open workshop see here. The piece is written for harp, percussion, piano, viola & cello, and will include an installation.

Click here to reserve your seats at the public showing on March 15th!​

Dark Music Days

It’s that time of year! – Dark Music Days start on January 31st in Reykjavik. The festival brings 4 days of contemporary music and is always such a treat. I definitely recommend checking out the program, and if you are in Iceland, then going to see some concerts! Here you can see this year’s full program.

Shades of Silence will be premiered on the festival by Nordic Affect on Saturday February 2nd at 3PM in Kaldalón hall in Harpa. Nordic Affect Ensemble has premiered a number of pieces as they have commissioned composers to write new music for their setup of baroque instruments. Shades of Silence is written for Nordic Affect for violin, viola, cello & harpsichord. Their concert will feature four new pieces.

Happy Dark Music Days to Reykjavik!

AERIALITY at the Kennedy Center in March

Aeriality (2011) will receive its US premiere at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on March 4th, performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov. Also on the program is a new piece (2013) by Icelandic composer, and a friend, Hlynur A. Vilmarsson, which will receive its US premiere as well. Hlynur’s music tends to have rhythmic qualities and he has e.g. worked with computer animated graphic scores as well as with more "traditionally" notated scores – it will be exciting to hear the new piece!

The concert is a part of the Nordic Cool Festival and will also feature pieces by Grieg and Sibelius – it starts at 7:30PM. See here for more information about the concert. 

The ISO will be performing the same program in Reykjavik, Iceland, on February 26th, at 7:30PM, in Harpa Concert- and Conference Center. See here for more information about the concert in Reykjavik.

The day after the orchestra concert in Washington, on March 5th at 6:00PM, the Iceland based Duo Harpverk will be premiering Tactility (2012), for percussion and harp, and a selection of other new pieces, on their concert at same festival. See here for more info about their concert.

I am very much looking forward to going to Washington for these concerts! And then I’ll be on my way to NYC for a workshop with ICE – but more on that later :)

***v***