Event info

Iceland Airwaves presents the captivating works of composer Gabríel Ólafs performed at Harpa Concert Hall as a partner event.

Gabríel will be joined on stage by the avantgarde Reykjavík Orkestra, conductor Viktor Orri Árnason (known for his collaborations with composers Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir) and Bergur Þórisson (Björk’s musical director). Experience the especially arranged music of Iceland’s most promising classical rising star in the award-winning acoustics of Harpa Concert Hall by the sea.

For fans of: film music, classical music, piano music, poetry and the cultural heritage of Iceland.

About Gabríel Ólafs
“Transports the listener to a soothing landscape” - NPR
“Raw beauty” - BBC Music Magazine
“Pure imagination” - KEXP

Gabríel’s melodic compositional style and holistic creative vision set him apart as a true auteur of postmodern classical music. His work draws inspiration from Nordic folk traditions and incorporates Icelandic poetry. At only 24, Gabríel Ólafs is arguably Gen Z’s most important composer. Gabríel’s studio albums Piano Works/Absent Minded (2020), poetic multimedia project Solon Islandus (2022) in collaboration with the Iceland Dance Company, and intimate Decca Records release Lullabies for Piano and Cello (2023) have garnered the young composer over 100-million streams.

About Reykjavík Orkestra

Composed of elite musicians from the northernmost capital in the world, the Reykjavík Orkestra is an ensemble for the modern day. With its unique fusion of virtuosic performers, fluent embrace of sound design, and intuitive grasp of the “Icelandic sound”, the orchestra is carving out its own space for contemporary classical music in the 21st Century.

Since its inception, the orchestra has performed the work of composers such as Hans Zimmer and Ólafur Arnalds, and has recorded music for the BBC, Netflix, Apple TV+, Decca and Deutsche Grammophon.