Anna Thorvaldsdottir on Dark Music Days

The Dark Music Days Festival of Contemporary Music cometh, and, for the first time, the festival will grace the glittering halls of the new Harpa concert venue. Taking place between January 26th and 29th, Dark Music Days promises four intensive days of music comprising of 21 different concerts and events, with a bill packed with typically thrilling musical fare. Top Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, whose work will be featured this year, gives us her take on the musical event that lights up some of the darkest days of the Icelandic calendar...

Hello Anna! We are very excited about Dark Music Days - tell us about the work of yours that is being featured?

There will be a number of works of mine on the program this year. The CAPUT Ensemble will give a portrait concert featuring a selection of my works, ranging from solo pieces to chamber orchestra pieces. One piece for chamber orchestra, titled Streaming Aryhytmia, will receive a concert premiere. I wrote it in 2007 and it is on my album, Rhizoma, which was released last fall, but it hasn't yet been performed live. So that's exciting. The concert will be on January 27th in Harpa. Then on January 28th a new piece of mine will be premiered by pianist Tinna Þorsteinsdóttir, also in Harpa. She is a great pianist and her concert will consist solely of premieres of Icelandic piano works. 

So, the Caput Ensemble... they're rather cool, aren't they?

Yes, they are fantastic. They specialize in performance of contemporary music and they've been around since 1988, so they have a lot of experience. What's also great about them is that their capacity ranges from soloists to chamber orchestra in size, so their programs are usually very diverse.

It must be an incredible experience watching other people perform your work - it is a bit odd as well, considering how personal your compositions must be?

It's always so interesting to work with performers on the music - they are the ones who bring it to life. It is incredible to be able to write music for different kinds of instruments and then to have wonderful performers give it their own fingerprint. The same piece never sounds exactly the same when it's performed by different artists because of the personal contribution of each and every performer. The relationship between the composer, the music, and the performers is very valuable - I obviously can't play all the instruments in an orchestra, for example, so to me it's great to be able to work with so many people who are experts in playing their instruments. So it's always exciting to give the music to performers and then we all work on it together in bringing it to life.

The work will be performed at the new Harpa venue, what does that mean to you? Are you a fan of the building?

I really like Harpa and I am definitely a fan of having a building with these concert venues. I've had a few pieces performed there and also of course heard quite a lot of other music in there as well. It's a great feeling to finally have a home, of this caliber, for music here in Iceland - it's fantastic!

What are you looking forward to catching at the festival?

I'm looking forward to everything at the festival! I am going to try to go to as much as possible. There are so many interesting concerts scheduled, for example the Nordic Affect Ensemble has a concert featuring "Contemporary Music on Baroque Instruments" which I'm looking forward to hearing, and Duo Harpverk has a program featuring "New Works by Composition Students of the Iceland Academy of the Arts" which will without a doubt be interesting. Then there is something a bit out of the ordinary for a festival like this, which is a "Children's Concert" featured by Dúó Stemma - it's great that something is being offered for the youngest generation as well. I'm also looking forward to the Iceland Symphony Orchestra concert - and everything else :)

What is next for you?

I'm starting to work on some new pieces these days and after Dark Music Days I'll be taking some time to work on commissions and upcoming projects - I'll for example be working on an electronic music project and a film score for an interesting independent project. I'll also be continuing to promote the new album, Rhizoma.