The August/September issue of Iceland Review features a short interview with Anna on her inspirations in music.
At the moment the magazine is only available in hard copy.
BIT20 performing Hrím in the fall
Hrím (2010), for chamber orchestra, will be performed by the BIT20 Ensemble in Oslo, Norway, on the Ultima Festival on September 9th, conducted by Pascal Rophé, and in Bergen on November 17th, conducted by Baldur Brönnimann.
The September program, on the Ultima Festival, will include two other pieces; a new piece by Lene Grenager and a premiere of Gesange Gedanken by Philippe Manoury.
The November program will feature two other pieces; Fantaisie Mecanique by Unsuk Chin and Chamber Concerto by György Ligeti. See here for the concert program.
Anna receives the Nordic Council Music Prize 2012
Anna is honored and grateful to be the recipient of the Nordic Council Music Prize 2012 for her work Dreaming, for orchestra.
The Nordic Council Music Prize Adjudicating Committee says:
"Dreaming opens the sphere of the symphony orchestra in an unusual and innovative way. … With Dreaming Anna Thorvaldsdóttir has written herself into a contemporary Nordic orchestra tradition which derives its timbres both from electronic music and from the sounds of nature inherent in Nordic folk music. The tones are carefully depicted - almost like small pieces of embroidery. But the work is perhaps particularly unique by the way it achieves to build and unfold a large form within a sound world that apparently stands still."
ICElab 2013 collaborators announced
The International Contemporary Ensemble has announced their 2013 lab collaborators.
I am very much looking forward to this exciting collaboration with ICE.
Here is the list of collaborators for 2013.
Icelandic Music Awards
Happy news! Anna was awarded in two categories at the Icelandic Music Awards on February 29th 2012, as Composer of the Year, and Classical/Contemporary Album of the Year, for Rhízōma.
Here is the full list of awards - but it is only in Icelandic though.
Rhízōma listed as Icelandic Album of the Year 2011
Rhízōma was listed as the Icelandic Album of the Year by Árni Matthíasson at the Icelandic newspaper Morgunbladid.
Rhízōma listed as one of The best classical albums of 2011
I am very honored that Rhízōma was featured on a few lists for The best classical albums of 2011, among them on Steve Smith’s list in TimeOut New York: “Nothing is more exciting than discovering an emerging composer already in possession of a distinct, powerful voice” - Steve Smith, TimeOut New York. See here for his full list.
...and on Doyle Armbrust's list for 2011 at TimeOut Chicago: “Traverses the planes of the terrifying and the intimate.” See here for his full list.