DURUFLÉ REQUIEM / ICELAND AIRWAVES

MAURICE DURUFLÉ REQUIEM / ICELAND AIRWAVES PRATNER EVENT
November 5th at 17hrs
Hymnodia Kammerkór & Kammerkór Norðurlands
Hildigunnur Einarsdóttir, mezzo soprano
Hrafnhildur Marta Guðmundsdóttir, cello
Eyþór Ingi Jónsson, organ
Guðmundur Óli Gunnarsson, conductor

Tickets are available at Hallgrímskirkja and on: https://tix.is/is/event/16105
Admission ISK 3.900

Hymnodia has been active since 2003 when it was initiated by cantor Eyþór Ingi Jónsson who still leads the group. Striving to tackle challenging and ambitious projects, Hymnodia has performed experimental and improvisatory music, premiered new compositions and commissioned works from Icelandic composers. To name some major projects, the baroque piece Membra Jesu Nostri by Buxtehude, was performed in Hallgrímskirkja by Hymnodia together with a baroque ensemble of period instruments and mezzosoprano Anna Zander. Hymnodia has also staged the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Progressive works include the performance of the visual arts couple Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson, “The Constitution of the Republic of Iceland”, and the project “Voiceland” by German stage artist Mareike Dobewall and composer Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson. Hymnodia has released three albums with their music and held concerts all over Iceland, but also in Switzerland and Norway.

Kammerkór Norðurlands / Chamber Choir of the North was formed in autumn 1998 and Guðmundur Óli Gunnarsson has been the choir's conductor since the year 2000.
Choir members are educated singers and musicians from all over the North of  Iceland, which in turn makes it possible for the choir to rehearse in sessions despite long distances. Through the years the choir has contributed to the local and national culture with diverse concert programs, participation in big musical events, f.ex. with SinfoniaNord, Hymnodia Chamber Choir, and Chamber Choir of Skagafjörður and also by publishing 3 albums; Kammerkór Norðurlands (2010), Ljúflingsmál (2017) og Á svörtum fjöðrum (2020). The choir's repertoire includes Icelandic folk songs, madrigals, church choral music, film scores and last but not least, commissioned Icelandic compositions. It has been a conscious policy and ambition of the choir and it's director to encourage Icelandic composers by buying their works and thus contribute to the growth and development of Icelandic choral music.

Kammerkór Norðurlands and Hymnodia have joined forces in different projects. This particular one, the Requiem by Duruflé, was launched in 2021, as the directors of the choirs had expressed their common interest in working together on a challenging project. A concert was held on November 7, 2021 in Akureyri Church, the performance receiving great media praise afterwards. The performers are very pleased to be able to repeat the event for the Hallgrímskirkja audience.

Eyþór Ingi Jónsson studied organ playing and church music, first at the National Church Music School with Hörður Áskelsson and others (1995-1998) and later with prof. Hans-Ola Ericssonand others at the University of Music in Piteå, Sweden (1999-2007). He teaches various subjects at The Icelandic Arts Academy and Music school of the National Church. Eyþór is very active performer, both as a soloist and in chamber music. His first solo album, Septim, was released in 2021, and Eyþór has played on and conducted choirs in a number of recordings with various artists. He has both conducted and performed as soloist with the Northern Iceland Symphony Orchestra. His present post is organist at the Akureyri Church. He also founded and conduct the Hymnodia Chamber Choir.

Hildigunnur Einarsdóttir completed her final exam from the Singing School in Reykjavík under the guidance of Ólafar Kolbrún Harðardóttir and Signýjar Sæmundsdóttir and studied further in Germany and the Netherlands with Janet Williams and Jón Þorsteinsson. Hildigunnur has also completed a B.A. degree in creative music communication from the Iceland Academy of the Arts, where she took singing lessons with Hlín Pétursdóttir Behrens. Hildigunnur conducts the Árkór in Reykjavík and the Katla Women's Choir together with Lilja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir. Hildigunnur teaches singing at Sigursvein D. Kristinsson's Music School and Domus Vox Singing School.
Hildigunnur has been prominent in the church music scene and has sung the solo roles i.a. Messiah and Judas Maccabeus by Händel, St. Matthew's Passion, St. John's Passion and the Christmas Oratorio by Bach and Guðbrand's Mass by Hildigunnur Rúnarsdóttir. Hildigunnur has also sung a solo, i.a. with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Brák Baroque Orchestra and the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra and premiered a number of works, e.g. by Hreiðar Inga Þorsteinsson, Ingibjörg Ýr Skarphéðinsdóttir and Kolbein Bjarnason. Hildigunnur was nominated for the Icelandic Music Prize in 2014 for her interpretation of Karl O. Runólfsson's songs with the chamber group Kúbus and recently won the Icelandic Music Prize for Singer of the Year in classical and contemporary music.

Hrafnhildur Marta Guðmundsdóttir, cellist, has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and with orchestras in Europe and the United States. She has performed as a soloist with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra and the North Iceland Symphony Orchestra and appeared as principal cellist with orchestras such as the Aspen Opera Orchestra in Colorado and Aurora Festival Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm. Hrafnhildur has received awards from foundations such as the Jean-Pierre Jacquillat Memorial Fund, the Rotary Foundation in Iceland, Leifur Eiriksson Foundation, as well as Fellowships from the Thor Thors Foundation and the Leifur Eiriksson Foundation. She has been a finalist in competitions such as the NSAL instrumental competition, the National Society of Arts and Letters Competition in Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition. As a part of the Kuttner String Quartet, Hrafnhildur has served as string quartet-in-residence at Indiana University as well as the Beethoven Haus in Bonn. Her playing can be heard on Naxos recordings of previously unpublished chamber music sketches by Beethoven that were a part of Naxos 2020 release of the complete works of Beethoven for his 150th Jubileum. Hrafnhildur studied at the Iceland Academy of the Arts with Sigurgeir Agnarsson and Gunnar Kvaran, the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Morten Zeuthen and Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University with Brandon Vamos. She plays a cello made by Gary Garavaglia and a bow by James Tubbs.

Guðmundur Óli Gunnarsson was chief conductor of the North-Iceland Symphony Orchestra for 22 years and Caput chamber orchestra for 18 years. He was music director of The Icelandic Opera for 5 years and has conducted the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra.
Guðmundur Óli is conductor of South-Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He has been conductor of various choirs and has been conductor of Kammerkór Norðurlands since 2000. He conducted workshops at Kórastefna við Mývatn 2003 - 2009 and workshops at the national choir festivals of Icelandic Male Choirs and Icelandic Female Choirs. Guðmundur Óli conducted workshops at the Nordic-Baltic Choral Festival in Helsinki 2012 and the Nordklang festival in Helsingborg 2019.

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