Thorkell Sigurbjörnson - A Survey of Violin

is one of Iceland’;s most respected and prolific composers. His body of work is extremely varied; his works include orchestral works, solo concertos, chamber works, electronic and computer music, chamber operas, songs and choral music. His hymns are among his best known and most beloved works. This year, Thorkell celebrates his 70th birthday and on that occasion a special concert will be held in his honour. The concert’;s programme will include all his works for violin and violin and piano. Performing in this concert are Sigurbjörn Bernhardsson, violinist and the composer’;s relative, and Anna Gudný Gudmundsdóttir, pianist.

Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson was born in Reykjavik in 1938. He studied the piano at the Reykjavik College of Music. Graduate studies took him to the United States, where he studied composition, first at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota and later at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Among his teachers were R.G. Harris, Kenneth Gaburo and Lejaren Hiller. Thorkell attended seminars in composition at Darmstadt in Germany and Nice, France. Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson is one of the best known and most prolific of Icelandic composers today and his catalog is extensive. Beside composing, he is a teacher of musical theory and composition at the Reykjavik College of Music. Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson has appeared as a pianist, both in concert and in recordings. He was a music critic for the Morgunblaðið newspaper and has also been a program host at the National Broadcasting Service. From 1983-88, Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson was president of the Society of Icelandic Composers. On returning from abroad in 1962, Thorkell was active in Musica Nova, a society for the promotion and performance of new music, and played an important role in the creation of modern Icelandic music culture. Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson’;s music is extremely varied. In his extensive catalog one finds orchestral works, solo concertos, a variety of chamber works, electronic and computer music, solo pieces, chamber operas, songs and choral music, sacred and secular. His hymns are among his best known and most beloved works. Thorkell’;s contribution to Icelandic music life is vast. This is clearly confirmed in his output of brilliant music, but also in his influence in many other areas. Since Thorkell Sigubjörnsson came home from his studies abroad, he has been the teacher of the majority of Icelandic composers and professional musicians. Bergthóra Jónsdóttir

About Sigurbjörn Bernharðsson and Anna Guðný Guðmundsdóttir.

Box office only in Laugarborg in north of Iceland
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