MacMillan at Dark Music Days

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra's concert at the Dark Music Days will premiere two new Icelandic compositions by Bára Gísladóttir and María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir. Bára's career is on the rise, and she has received numerous awards and recognitions during the course of it. Most recently, she received the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Honorary Award, one of the most prestigious cultural awards given in Denmark. María has composed music for orchestras, various sized ensembles, choir, choreography, visual arts and films.Maria's compositions have been recorded and released internationally. Clockworking, Sleeping Pendulum, Aequora, Spirals, Loom, Oceans, Clockworking for Orchestra and Kom vinur all have been released on the US label Sono Luminus. Her compositions have been performed in Iceland, USA, Australia and Europe.

The concert will also feature Orchestral Concerto no. 2 by Snorri Sigfús Birgisson, the concerto won the Icelandic Music Award as Composition of the Year in 2024.

Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan is the conductor of the concert, and it is safe to say that he is one of the most well-known composers of our time. The Symphony Orchestra has performed several of his works over the years, but this concert features his Trombone Concerto from 2017. The soloist in this challenging but moving solo concerto is the leader of the orchestra's trombone section, Jón Arnar Einarsson.

The Dark Music Days music festival is one of the oldest music festivals in Iceland, founded in 1980 by the Icelandic Composers' Association, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra has been a participant in the festival since the beginning.

*A change has been made to tonight's program; instead of the premiere of Kjartan Sveinson's work, the orchestra will perform Benthos by María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir.