01/18/2010 12:04:08
Dark Music Days Celebrate 30th Anniversary
Dark Music Days (Festival Of Contemporary Music) will be held in Reykjavík, Iceland from January 24th to 31st 2010. This year's edition marks the event's 30th anniversary and no less than 24 different concerts and events will take place throughout Reykjavík and in neighboring communities.
Ever since it´s establishment by the Society of Icelandic Composers in 1980, the Dark Music Days Festival has been expanding and gaining recognition at home and abroad as the most important platform for contemporary music in Iceland. The trademark of the Festival throughout the years has been its diversity. This coming year will in no way be different in that respect, as representatives of the youngest generation of Icelandic composers such as Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, Davíð Brynjar Franzson and Daníel Bjarnason will be duly presented.
A special concert will be held in cooperation with the Iceland Academy of the Arts, where Duo Harpverk will be giving first performances of various works written by students from the Department of Composition. And young performers such as the guitarist Ögmundur Jóhannesson and the chamber ensemble Adapter will also be in the foreground, together with more established acts like the violinist Auður Hafsteinsdóttir, The Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, the Hamrahlíð Choir, the Caput Ensemble, the Chalumeaux Trio and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra who will present a retrospective of Icelandic contemporary music from the last 30 years or more.
Several distinguished guests from abroad will also be participating: the composers Klaus Ager, John Pickard and Wayne Siegel as well as Swedish pianist Per Rundberg and the German recorder virtuoso and composer Markus Zahnhausen. There will be many world premiers as well as performances of recent and “older” works by the generation of composers who are now in the prime of their careers: Haukur Tómasson, Hildigunnur Rúnarsdóttir, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Hilmar Thórdarson, Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson, Hróðmar I. Sigurbjörnsson, Karólína Eiríksdóttir, Kjartan Ólafsson, Snorri Sigfús Birgisson, Thorsteinn Hauksson and Úlfar Ingi Haraldsson amongst others.
The works of the “giant” of Icelandic 20th century music, Jón Leifs, will also be heard on various occasions. Last but not least, throughout the week, special focus will be on two of Iceland's most eminent composers and founders the Dark Music Days Festival: Atli Heimir Sveinsson and Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson. Further info on Icelandic composers can be found on www.mic.is, the Iceland Music Information Center´s web. The official festival website can be found here.
