Portrait Concert in NYC & Visual Music in Reykjavík

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Had a great trip to New York City where the Either/Or Ensemble gave a wonderful performance of a selection of my pieces on December 5th at the Miller Theatre. It was truly a pleasure working with David Shively, Richard Carrick, all the other performers of Either/Or and the staff at the Theatre for the week leading up to the concert.
Here is what Steve Smith wrote about the concert at The New York Times.

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Now, back in Reykjavik, working on the final touches of a new work for the Reykjavik Center for Visual Music that, in collaboration with Punto y Raya and Dark Music Days, will present a new music festival in Reykjavik at the end of January. The new piece is for piano and electronics along with a video projection, and it is a collaboration between myself and visual artist Sigurður Guðjónsson who is working on the video. The piece will be premiered on January 30th in Harpa Concert Hall. The program is very intriguing and features many great artists. Here is a trailer for the festival, published by Punto y Raya:

A feast of pure Colour, Motion and Sound. Non-representational Art takes the lead at Reykavík Visual Music – Punto y Raya Festival, which will take place from January 30th to February 2nd 2014 at HARPA, the Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Center. The programme features live performances by major artists like Ryoji Ikeda and Ryoichi Kurokawa; specially commissioned opening concerts by Sigurður Guðjónsson + Anna Þorvaldsdóttir & Bret Battey + Hugi Guðmundsson; guest Austrian and Polish Film panoramas, and the selected works in the international live set & short-film Competitions, which brought together nearly 500 artists from 46 countries. Parallel activities include the "Cadences of Colour and Line" exhibit at Listasafn Reykjavíkur (Reykjavik Art Museum, from February 1st to April 13th) and the "2014 Academy Programme", featuring workshops open to local students and tutored by renowned professionals in the field. Co-produced by RCVM [Reykjavík Center for Visual Music, Iceland] and MAD [Moviment D'Alliberament Digital, Barcelona·Spain]. All info at www.puntoyrayafestival.com | www.rcvm.is Design, animation & Direction: Guillermo Daldovo | www.malevo.tv Edition & errors: Bernard Arce | www.bernardarce.com Producer: Sonia Figuera Music: Raúl Santos_SupercineXcine | soundcloud.com/superx

Recording sessions

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

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

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

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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.

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

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.

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!