The Iceland Symphony and Daníel Bjarnason Nominated for a Grammy Award
The Iceland Symphony Orchestra and conductor Daníel Bjarnason are nominated for a Grammy Award in the field of Best Orchestral Performance, for the CD Concurrence, released on the Sono Luminus label. The CD contains four new works by Icelandic composers Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Haukur Tómasson, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir and Páll Ragnar Pálsson, performed by the Iceland Symphony under the direction of Daníel Bjarnason. Soloists on the CD are cellist Sæunn Þorsteinsdóttir and pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.
Concurrence is the second of three CDs recorded in collaboration by the Iceland Symphony and the US-based label Sono Luminus, which will include a total of 14 recent Icelandic orchestral works performed by the Iceland Symphony and Daníel Bjarnason. The final installment in the series, Occurrence, is scheduled for release in January 2021.
Concurrence was released in 2019 to outstanding reviews. The New York Times selected it as one of the 25 Best Classical Tracks of 2019, and it also made NPR's list of the year's 10 best releases, noting that “the tiny island nation of Iceland looms disproportionately large in the classical scene.”
Five CDs are nominated for Grammy Awards in this category. Alongside the Iceland Symphony, these are: The Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, the Oregon Symphony conducted by Carlos Kalmar, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu, and the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.
This is the Iceland Symphony Orchestra's second Grammy nomination in the category of Best Orchestral Performance. It was nominated in 2009 for a CD of orchestral works by the French composer Vincent d'Indy, conducted by Rumon Gamba.