Event info

This event has bee postponed. A new date will be announced soon.

Performers:
Bjarni Thor Kristinsson, bass
Eva Þyri Hilmarsdóttir, piano
Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir, mezzo-soprano
Helen Whitaker, flute
Margrét Hannesdóttir, soprano
Þorsteinn Freyr Sigurðsson, tenor

Program:
Clara Schumann: Drei Romanzen, Op. 22
Lili Boulanger: Nocturne
Robert Schumann: Spanisches Liederspiel, Op. 74

Clara Schumann dedicated Drei Romanzen Op. 22 to the virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim in 1853. Him and Robert Schumann performed it regularly. Clara explores the genre through these three lively and sweet movements in what would be one of the final works she composed. Although originally written for violin, the transcription for flute works beautifully, allowing the lyrical lines to shine through. Lili Boulanger, another pioneering female composer, wrote Nocturne for violin and piano in 1911. Although famed for being the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, Boulanger’s work is still relatively unknown. Raised in an equally musical household to Clara Schumann, Boulanger wrote the Nocturne aged 18. It is inspired by the magic of the night, where the sparkling piano accompaniment can be heard under a melody that hovers over like a string of lights. It ends with the two instruments intertwining whereupon the music goes silent and disappears into the night. Robert Schumann composed Spanisches Liederspiel Op. 74 in 1849. The lyrics are Spanish poems from a collection by Emanuel Geibel. The cycle consists of ten songs for four singers, solos, duets or quartets accompanied by a piano. The Liederspiel starts with a girl and a boy spotting each other amongst the roses. The cycle then demonstrates a dramatic dialogue between them, while bringing out beautiful Spanish rhythms such as the bolero. The last song in the cycle, Der Kontrabandiste, is a bass solo and is not really connected to the story. The lyrics are about a smuggler and his life. This finale brings a vivid and beautiful end to the cycle, and the music festival Seigla as well.

Bjarni Thor Kristinsson is one of the best known Icelandic opera singers. His repertoire ranges from Mozart to Wagner and he has sung in many of the most important opera houses and concert halls of the world. Born and raised in a small village in Iceland, Garður, he played the flute and sang in a children's choir and also participated in amateur theatre in his hometown. At the age of 18, he started playing the guitar and took his first singing lessons. Bjarni studied with mezzo-soprano Ragnheiður Guðmundsdóttir. In the 1992 Icelandic Art Festival he sang parts of Handel's Messiah and later that year he joined the chorus of the Icelandic Opera in Reykjavík. In 1994, Bjarni graduated from the Reykjavik Singing School, having studied with the Icelandic tenor Garðar Cortes senior. In 1994 Bjarni moved to Vienna and continued his studies at the opera department of the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst under the guidance of Helene Carusso and Curt Malm. In 1997 he signed a three year contract as first bass at the Volksoper in Vienna. Two of Bjarni´s most important roles are Osmin in Mozart's Abduction from the Serail and Baron Ochs in Strauss's Rosenkavalier. Bjarni has sung over 80 performances of Ochs in Wiesbaden, Dortmund, Berlin, Dresden, Köln, Barcelona and Tokio. Bjarni received the Icelandic music prize Gríman as Singer of the year 2007.

Eva Þyri Hilmarsdóttir graduated from Reykjavík College of Music, and then furthered her studies in Denmark at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, receiving an Advanced Soloist Diploma, and in The Royal Academy of Music in London, where she graduated with a Distinction and was awarded a DipRAM and the Christian Carpenter Piano Prize for an outstanding final recital. Her teachers were Thorsteinn Gauti Sigurdsson, Halldor Haraldsson, Prof. John Damgaard and Michael Dussek. Aside from giving solo recitals, Eva Thyri takes an avid interest in chamber music and lieder. She has given numerous inaugural performances of Icelandic and foreign compositions, appearing in festivals such as Dark Music Days in Reykjavik, Ung Nordisk Musik, Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin, Young Composers Symposium, London and Opera Days in Reykjavik. She also participated in over one hundred recitals dedicated to Icelandic music in the series Pearls of Icelandic song in Harpa concert house. In 2017 Eva Þyri participated in The Icelandic Opera’s production of La Voix Humaine by Poulenc, and in December 2018 she and Erla Dóra Vogler, mezzo-soprano, released a cd with works for solo voice and piano by Jórunn Viðar, in celebration of her 100th birthday. The CD was nominated as Album of the Year for the Icelandic Music Awards. Eva Þyri teaches at Iceland University of the Arts alongside performing.

Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir is one of Iceland’s leading singers and has had a successful career in operatic and concert scenes around the world. The number of roles she has sung is now about 60. Hanna Dóra has performed recitals and concerts with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and others. She has sung various roles at the Icelandic Opera. These include the title role in Carmen, Princess Eboli in Don Carlo, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Brothers by Daniel Bjarnason and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. In 2014, Hanna Dóra received the Icelandic Music Award and was named "Singer of the Year" for her interpretation of Princess Eboli. Hanna Dóra places special emphasis on contemporary music and has worked closely with the composer Snorri Sigfús Birgisson in recent years. She attracted deserved attention for her performance of the opera KOK and was nominated for Gríman as Singer of the Year in 2021. Hanna Dóra is an adjunct and director of singing at the music department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts.

Helen Whitaker is a critically acclaimed flautist who enjoys an exciting and varied freelance career. Having won many prizes and scholarships while studying for a Master’s degree at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London, Helen now divides her time as a performer and recording artist between the UK and Iceland. She is on the extras list for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Nord, and her recent work in Iceland includes performing in the Classical Sundays series at Harpa, for the University of Iceland concert series, and playing with leading contemporary music ensemble Caput. She is a featured flautist on many albums, and has given live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, 4, 6 and FIP Paris among others. Recent work includes performing contemporary classical repertoire with ensembles such as the Colin Currie Group, The New Music Players, the Orchestra of Sound and Light, as well as collaborations with artists such as The Leisure Society, Ray Davies, Laura Marling, José González and 5 Billion in Diamonds. Helen co-directs and is principal flautist with ALDAorchestra, which she founded with composer/conductor Helgi R. Ingvarsson in 2016. Upcoming highlights include the world premieres of works by Helgi R. Ingvarsson and Jessie Marino with Helen’s experimental performance group Personal Clutter as well as a tour across Europe, Japan and the U.S.A with the Colin Currie Group, giving the world premiere of a new work by Steve Reich.

Margrét Hannesdóttir is a spirited and dulcet light coloratura soprano. She graduated from Westminster Choir College (WCC) in May 2013 with an MM in Voice Performance and Pedagogy. Margrét began her studies in 2006 with Ms. Ólöf Kolbrún Harðardóttir at The Reykjavik Academy of Singing and Vocal Arts, and then with Ms. Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir at the Sigurður Demetz Academy of Singing. When studying in WCC Margrét took on two roles with the Westminster Opera Theatre; the 1st Spirit in the Magic Flute by Mozart and Oberto in Alcina by Handel. Right after her studies, Margrét had a short layover back home in Iceland, where she sang solo in Mozart’s Requiem with the Icelandic Youth Symphony Orchestra. After her studies, Margrét mostly resided in Germany and Italy, singing at various concerts and taking private lessons with Joseph Protschka, Margherita Guglielmi, Denia Mazzola-Gavazzeni, Dorothea Schwarz and Stefano Conticelli, to name a few. A year after her graduation, Margrét sang the role of Norina in Don Pasquale with the opera company L’Opera Piccola in Germany, where she was described as a charming Norina in the Wiesbadener Zeitung. Margrét is an ambitious and apt artist, with a keen ear and mind, who loves to challenge herself. Yet she will light up the room with her humility and charisma, as a natural performer and skilled singer, making it all seem effortless.

Þorsteinn Freyr Sigurðsson began his singing studies in 2005 with Elísabet Erlingsdóttir at Reykjavík Music College. From 2007 to 2010 he continued his studies at Iceland University of the Arts with the same teacher. Þorsteinn finished his master’s degree in 2013 at Hanns Eisler in Berlin, studying with Prof. Scot Weir. After graduation, he furthered his studies with Prof. Janet Williams, Jón Þorsteinsson and Hlín Pétursdóttir Behrens. In 2014-2017, Þorsteinn worked at Theater Ulm in South Germany where he sang many leads. To name a few, Ferrando in Cosi van Tutti, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti and Camille de Rossillon in Die lustige Witwe by Lehár. Þorsteinn is an experienced song recitalist and has performed widely in Germany and Iceland. Since moving back to Iceland early 2017, he has participated in an arrange of projects including Spoletta with the Iceland Opera, multiple song recitals in Harpa and Salurinn, and is an active member of groups such as Schola Cantorum, Voces Mascolorum and Rekkvartettinn to name a few.

Seigla festival is made by the Icelandic Schumann Society and is sponsored by Ýlir tónlistarsjóður, Styrktarsjóður SUT og Ruthar Hermanns, Tónlistarsjóður Rannís, Barnamenningarsjóður and Menningarsjóður FÍH.

Students, seniors and members of the Icelandic Schumann Society can get a discounted price at 3000 kr in Harpa's Box Office.

Further information www.seiglafestival.com