In the Light of Air

I have been working on this piece for quite some time and am very excited to now be in rehearsals with ICE in NY. The score is 107 pages and holds 43 minutes of music, as well as an installation and interactive light constellation for atmospheric finish touch during a live performance.

The work is in four main movements, Luminance, Serenity, Existence & Remembrance, tied together through connecting materials.

The work will be premiered at the Reykjavik Arts Festival on May 25th in Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, followed by a performance at the Atlas Arts Performing Center three days later, and then at the Mostly Mozart Festival in NYC in August along with a couple of other pieces.

Before that all happens, we have a premiere of the first movement of the work presented at the Sweet Thunder Festival in San Francisco on April 25th.

Reykjavik Visual Music

Trajectories, a new piece for electronics, piano and visuals was premiered at the festival of Reykjavik Visual Music in Reykjavik on January 30th. The work is a collaboration with visual artist Sigurður Guðjónsson who worked on the visuals.

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During the performance we had 3 large screens and a powerful audio system at Silfurberg hall in Harpa, and Tinna Þorsteinsdóttir performed the live piano part surrounded by the visuals.

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An electronic version of the work is now being featured at the Reykjavik Art Museum, harbor house, at the exhibition Cadences of Line and Color, and will be up until early April.

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Happy New Year 2014

2013 was very eventful with many wonderful new collaborations, beautiful musical connections and events.

I am very much looking forward to new musical adventures in 2014. Some of the upcoming events in the coming few months include; a premiere of Trajectories, for piano, fixed electronics & video projection, at the Reykjavik Center for Visual Music on January 30th; the Iceland premiere of Ró, for chamber ensemble, written for and performed by CAPUT at Dark Music Days on January 31st; a performance of Hidden, for percussionist on grand piano, on February 7th performed by Justin DeHart at ARTShareLA at Wasteland's inaugural concert; performance by ICE at the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players' festival on April 25th and US premiere of In the Light of Air, a new piece written for ICE, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington DC among many other performances and events.

Then later in the year there will be a new portrait CD release with recordings of selected pieces performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, CAPUT Ensemble and Nordic Effect, among other performers!

As for current compositions in progress I am in the final stages of working on the new piece for ICE, as well as working on a new piece for chamber orchestra for the Norwegian BIT20 ensemble that will be premiered in the fall conducted by their artistic director and main conductor Baldur Brönnimann.

I am also starting to work on an opera which will be premiered in the fall of 2015 at the Ultima Festival in Oslo with following performances in other venues and places. This is a very exciting project involving artist from around the Nordic countries. It will truly be an adventure working on this piece as the project takes us, involved, on journeys to Greenland and other places for workshops and collaborations with artist from various genres in art. It is collaborations like these that makes art grow beyond boundaries and is an immensely valuable and productive way to make large projects come true. Click here for more information about the Far North opera project.

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Have a wonderful 2014 with nourishing events, connections and happy adventures.

Here is a short glimpse into the merger of 2013/2014 at the new years in the Reykjavik suburbs.

Warmth,
Anna

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!