4. June 2026

2026/27 Season – Barbara Hannigan and the Iceland Symphony

Barbara Hannigan and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra are proud to announce their 2026/27 season. Entering into a new era with Barbara Hannigan as the Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, the season is filled with adventures. Some of the concert programmes are rooted in familiar traditions, while others will lead you into unexpected territory. In Hannigan's words: "Both are essential. And both are for everyone."

The ISO & Barbara Hannigan have also just announced this season's Artist-in-Residence, the lauded French pianist Bertrand Chamayou. The Composer-in-Residence is the Icelandic composer Hugi Gu'mundsson.

From my very first encounter with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra back in 2021, I felt a special connection: a shared spirit of imagination, courage, and curiosity. I sensed strong individuals and creative artists, but also a powerful sense of unity within the ensemble. This is rare among orchestras, and I value it deeply.

Barbara Hannigan

“Here at the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, we are extremely excited to formally begin our collaboration with Barbara Hannigan as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director,” says Guðni Tómasson, Managing Director of the orchestra. “It is a testament to the strength of the orchestra and of Icelandic culture and musical life that Barbara is prepared to take on this important role here in Reykjavík. As her admirers know well, Barbara is a force of nature in the musical world. Her programming always conveys a strong artistic vision, and we are confident that the coming years will be full of musical wonders.”

Hannigan kicks off the season with the programme Attacca! in which time and space merge, as Charles Ives's From the Steeples and Mountains, Hugi Guðmundsson's Undark (World premiere), John Cage's 4'33”, and Mahler's Symphony No. 1 ‘Titan' are performed without an interval, on 3 September 2026. A week after the season opening concert, Barbara Hannigan conducts Messiaen, Ravel, and Roussel. This concert also features Hannigan performing Benjamin Britten's Les Illuminations as soprano while conducting, a dual role that she will undertake in various concerts throughout the season. In November she is joined by Dutch recorder sensation Lucie Horsch in works of Bach and a modern concerto by Erkki-Sven Tüür. Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks and Prokofiev's Classical Symphony round out the programme. In the new year, Barbara conducts Scriabin's Prometheus with soloist Bertrand Chamayou, featuring original light design by Fabiana Piccioli, and gives a duo recital with Bertrand Chamayou. Closing out the season will be the world premiere of Hugi Guðmundsson's Freyja with original text by the Canadian writer of Icelandic descent, Julie Salverson. For Barbara Hannigan's last week of the 2026/27 season, she will conduct music of Mendelssohn, Copland, and Rodgers, as well as sing in the showstopping suite At the Fair, arranged by Hannigan and the Tony-Award winning composer Bill Elliott.

Artist-in-Residence: Bertrand Chamayou
Bertrand Chamayou's first appearance as Artist-in-Residence will be together with Barbara Hannigan and the ISO as soloist in performances of Olivier Messiaen's Oiseaux exotiques and Ravel's masterpiece, the Piano Concerto in G Major. The following evening he offers a solo recital entitled Songs without Words with repertoire linked to songs that have inspired composers from Mendelssohn to Kurtág. Later in the season he returns with the epic concerto Prometheus, Poem of Fire by the mystical composer Alexander Scriabin. The following evening he and Barbara Hannigan perform a recital program which has brought them acclaim all over North America and Europe, and finally arrives in Iceland: the music of Messiaen, Scriabin and John Zorn.

“I've always dreamed of going to Iceland,” says Bertrand Chamayou. “Its landscapes - which I've only seen in photos so far - and its unique culture hold an irresistible appeal for me. What better way to make this dream come true than to be an Artist-in-Residence? A residency is a vast playground. It will allow me to sketch a sort of self-portrait that will express itself from different angles: the music of my native France, that of Ravel and Messiaen, the transcendence of the latter or that of Scriabin, the creative exuberance of John Zorn and George Crumb, the romanticism of Mendelssohn and Schubert juxtaposed with the sound of our time, and of course, as a cornerstone, my artistic partnership with Barbara Hannigan, an inexhaustible source of inspiration."

Composer-in-Residence: Hugi Guðmundsson

This season sees the world premiere of two works by Composer-in-Residence Hugi Guđmundsson: Undark and Freyja. Freyja was written in close collaboration between Guđmundsson, Barbara Hannigan and the Canadian author Julie Salverson, who wrote the text for the piece.

The work is inspired by the remarkable life of Margrét Benedictsson (1866–1956), who emigrated from her poverty-stricken Icelandic home to Canada at the age of 21, where she later became a great activist for human rights, especially for women and children. The work also innovatively explores the integration of the two roles that Hannigan plays in the piece, as conductor and soloist.

 

Featured Repertoire in Season 2026/27

Icelandic composers are integral to the programming of the ISO. Previous Composer-in-Residence Anna Thorvalsdottir's Shadow of Solace receives its Icelandic premiere. Other Icelandic composers will also be performed and premiered including works by Thuridur Jónsdóttir, Kjartan Sveinsson, Bára Gísladóttir, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir and the final orchestral work of the late Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson.

The ISO's firm commitment to contemporary music is not solely reserved for Icelandic composers, but extends to the entire world. Amongst living composers whose recent work will be performed this season are Brett Dean, Tan Dun, Clara Iannotta, John Zorn, Steingrímur Rohloff, Bill Elliott, Magnus Lindberg, Thomas Adès and Erkki-Sven Tüür.

The 20th century masters of composition are also prominent in the programme, with works by Messiaen, Stravinsky, Zemlinsky, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Britten and Ravel featuring throughout the season.

The symphonic peaks are represented by, amongst other masterpieces from the repertoire, Mahler's Symphony No. 1, Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 2 & 9, Bruckner's 2nd and 5th, Brahms's 1st and Mozart's 41st Symphony.

The ISO will be exploring the orchestral music of cinema throughout the season in several programmes, including Enrico Morricone The Symphonic Experience; a screening of Hitchcock's Psycho with a live orchestral performance of Bernard Hermann's chilling soundtrack; the music of Joe Hisaishi, composer, pianist and conductor, with Mr. Hisaishi himself at the helm; and a screening of The Lion King with live orchestral accompaniment of Hans Zimmer's score.

In addition to performances by Artist-in-Residence Bertrand Chamayou, the 2026/27 season will see many of the world's greatest soloists and conductors joining the ISO in a wide range of repertoire, from the baroque to the present.