Event info

New Music for Strings the only festival worldwide that primarily explores the space between string players and composers—the space between creation and interpretation in new string music. The festival rotates between countries, having been held in Denmark in 2016 and the United States in 2017. It now occurs for the first time in Iceland in 2018, back-to-back with this year’s Denmark events. Among the world-renown artists and scholars in the festival’s current and past events are the Grammy award winning Emerson String Quartet, composer Simon Steen-Andersen, Pulitzer prize winning composer Du Yun, along with faculty from several of the top European and American universities. The addition of Iceland in 2018 supports the goal of New Music for Strings to enhance collaboration between artists in the Nordic countries and North America.

The Gala Concert occurring in Norðurljós at Harpa on August 23rd, 6:00 p.m is one of the central events of the festival. Works of Anna Þorvaldsdóttir, Derek Bermel, Hafliða Hallgrímsson, and Béla Bartók will be presented along with the Icelandic premiere of a new string quartet by Eugene Drucker of the Emerson String Quartet, only a few days after the piece’s world premiere in Denmark. Among the performers the Gala Concert are Eugene Drucker, Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Henrik Brendstrup, Alicia Valotti, Auður Hafsteinsdóttir, Júlía Mogensen, Gróa Margrét Valdimarsdóttir, Anne Sophie Andersen, The Parhelion Trio, as well as a string orchestra comprised of the many of the festival artists.

More information can been found at newmusicforstrings.org .