surrounded by strangers
GERÐARSAFN
17.00
15 AUGUST
Programme
Eyvind Gulbrandsen 1977* - Surrounded by Strangers (2015)
Georg Kári Hilmarsson 1982* - Birta (2015)
Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason & Páll Gudmundsson frá Húsafelli - New composition (2015)
Eyvind Gulbrandsen is educated at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark and the Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, Norway. He always works in close collaboration with musicians and in the recent years he has been focusing on the possibilities of co-creation with either the musicians, the audience, or both. His main inspiration is the people he works with and the raw material for each piece, e.g. stories, objects or melodies regarding a
certain topic or theme, is often collected amongst the
musicians. His pieces often present themselves as a
combination of a concert, a performance and an
installation; more as an event, or happening, than a
conventional concert. Eyvind Gulbrandsen's work is
performed at the Festival as part of Moving Classics
European Network for New Music supported by the
Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Website: http://www.eyvindgulbrandsen.dk/ Eyvind Gulbrandsen also has work shown in the ArtKino.
Páll Gudmundsson is a sculptor and artist. He has done part of his studies at the University of Fine Arts in Cologne, Germany. Mostly, he sculptures faces of people out of the rock he finds around Húsafell. He has for example sculptured the faces of Johann Sebastian Bach, Björk, the Icelandic writer Thor Vilhjálmsson and the British composer sir John
Tavener. Páll also works as a musician with a unique
idiophone, a large xylophone-like instrument made of stones called Steinharpa. He crafted the instrument himself using stones found around his home. With the instrument he has performed along with the Icelandic band Sigur Rós. Website: http://www.pallg.is/
Georg K. Hilmarsson (b.1982) graduated from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2013 and proceeded his graduate studies at Mills College in California, working closely with renowned composers Fred Frith, Zeena Parkins, Roscoe Mitchell and John Bischoff. Georg graduated 2015 from Mills College with honors, were he was honored with the Paul Merrit Henry Prize for excellence in composition for stringed Instruments. Georg’s pieces have been performed widely, Salisbury Arts Festival í England, Summer Dream Choir festival in Sweden, Center for Contemporary Music in San Francisco and the Berkley Art Museum. Georg’s pieces has span a variety of instrumentation and groups amongst those who have premiered his work are; Eclipse Quartet, Celli@Berkely, The Reykjavik Cathederal Choir and the South Iceland Chamber Choir. Georg has been active in the Icelandic music scene as a bass player and songwriter, most notably with the band Sprengjuhollin.


South Iceland Chamber Choir comprises of both professional and amateur musicians from the south of the country. It was founded in 1997 by Hilmar Örn Agnarsson who has been its conductor from the
outset. The choir has a repertoire of both sacred and
secular music from all periods, which it has
performed widely. The choir has collaborated with and premiered works by many outstanding Icelandic composers, whose musical backgrounds and works range from pop and rock to classical and the choir has released four CDs. South Iceland Chamber Choir perform at Cycle Music and Art Festival as part of Moving Classics
- European Network for New Music supported by
the Creative Europe Programme of the European
Union. Website:
https://kammerkorsudurlands.wordpress.com/