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Grieg & Schumann (12K001 - 2006)

The Icelandic mezzo-soprano Gudrún Ólafsdóttir began her vocal studies at the Reykjavík College of Music under Professor Ruth Magnússon. She then moved to London, where she completed a Master of Music degree in 2001 and the Opera Course in 2003 at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, studying with Professor Laura Sarti. She later furthered her studies with mezzo-soprano Alicia Nafé in Madrid.

Ólafsdóttir has won prizes in six international singing competitions, including the Kathleen Ferrier Song Prize at the Wigmore Hall in London and the Joaquín Rodrigo prize in Madrid. Ólafsdóttir’s operatic roles include Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte, Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Joacim in Handel’s Susanna, Arbace in Arne’s Artaxerxes, Magdelone in Nielsen’s Maskarade and Lazuli in Chabrier’s L’étoile in the United Kingdom. In Iceland she has performed Prince Orlowsky in J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus and Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

Ólafsdóttir performs regularly in recital, with piano, guitar, chamber ensembles and orchestras. She has given world premières of new works by composers of different nationalities, some of whom have written their works especially for her. She has given recitals in Iceland, the U.K., Finland, Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg, the Faroe Islands, Malta, Bulgaria and Spain. She has performed at various festivals, including the Harrogate International Festival, the Reykjavík Arts Festival and the International Festival of Spanish Song in Granada. She has appeared as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Ensemble, the Ísafold Chamber Orchestra, Schola Camerata, Sonor Ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra of La Mancha and the Symphony Orchestra of Madrid.

Among her recordings are the oratorio A Child is Born by John Speight with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and various recordings for broadcast on Icelandic National Radio and the BBC. Upcoming releases include a selection of songs by Sigvaldi Kaldalóns with pianist Jónas Ingimundarson, Iero Oniro by John Tavener under Hilmar Örn Agnarsson and Vocalise by Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson for the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra.

 The Icelandic concert pianist Víkingur Heiðar Ólafsson (b. 1984) made his debut with The Iceland Symphony Orchestra at the age of sixteen, performing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. He has since made many appearances with the orchestra, performing concerti by Beethoven, Jón Nordal, Prokofiev, Ravel and Shostakovich. He has given solo recitals in Iceland, Spain, France, The Faroe Islands and The United States and appeared as a soloist with The Caput Ensemble and The Reykjavik Wind Ensemble. He made his debut as soloist/conductor in Mozart’s Piano Concerto k. 503 with The Reykjavik Chamber Orchestra at The Reykjavik Art Festival 2006.

A recipient of many prizes and awards, Ólafsson won 1st Prize in The Icelandic EPTA Piano Competition 2000. He received the prestigious American-
Scandinavian Society Cultural Grant 2004 and won the Icelandic Music Awards the same year in the category “Iceland’s brightest Prospect in Classical Music”. Most recently received the Carl Roeder Prize in Piano from The Juilliard School 2006. He has been supported throughout his studies by The Birgir Einarsson Memorial Fund.

A dedicated collaborator, Ólafsson has studied chamber music with Gunnar Kvaran, Dalton Baldwin, Julian Martin and Robert McDonald. He has appeared with many of Iceland’s leading musicians, including the Reykjavik Wind Quintet. He gave the Icelandic premiere of Ligeti’s Horn Trio with violinist Sigrún Eðvaldsdóttir and horn player Stefán Jón Bernharðsson and has worked closely with cellist Karen Ouzounian and mezzo-soprano Guðrún Jóhanna Ólafsdóttir for many years.

Ólafsson began his studies in Iceland with his mother, Svana Víkingsdóttir, and later studied with Erla Stefánsdóttir and Peter Maté. He graduated with a soloist diploma from The Reykjavík College of Music in 2001 and began his studies at The Juilliard School in New York in 2002 as a student of Jerome Lowenthal. He has also taken lessons from Ann Schein for many years. Ólafson is currently working towards a Master’s degree from Juilliard in the class of Robert McDonald.