Benedikt Kristjánsson

Conductor and tenor

Benedikt Kristjánsson is one of Iceland's leading tenor, specialising in Baroque and early music. He won First Prize at the International Bach Vocal Competition in Greifswald in 2011, the Audience Award in the International Bach Competition in Leipzig 2012, and received the OPUS Klassik award in 2019 for an innovative arrangement of Bach's St. John Passion for tenor, harpsichord, and percussion. He has performed at venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and with conductors Vladimir Jurowski, Philippe Herreweghe and Hans Christoph Rademann.

Benedikt has conducted Bach's major choral works in Reykjavík on several occasions, including the Christmas Oratorio in 2024 and St. John Passion in 2026. In the 2026/27 season he collaborates with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra as conductor for the first time, singing and conducting the monumental St. Matthew Passion in Harpa Concert Hall.