2025
2026
Elín Gunnlaugsdóttir (1965) studied at the Reykjavík College of Music where she graduated with a Diploma in Music Education in 1987 and a Diploma in Composition in 1993. Her teachers in composition were Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson Hródmar Ingi Sigurbjörnsson, and Gudmundur Hafsteinsson, Postgraduate studies took her to the Netherlands where she studied for two years composition with Theo Loevendie and Diderik Wagenaar at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague and graduated in 1998. Currently living in Selfoss, a small village east of Reykjavík, Elín Gunnlaugsdóttir has been active as a music teacher, singer and a composer. Among groups Elín has composed for are: The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, Caput-ensemble, Duo Harpverk, Schola Cantorum, the Danish recorder quartet Sirena and CH.AU ensemble in Switzerland. She has also worked closely with the Italian/Icelandic flutist Pamela De Sensi and the French percussionist Lucie Antunes. Her works have been performed in Iceland and abroad.
Edoardo Dinelli is an Italian composer, music producer and teacher. After graduating in Piano, he studied composition at the Conservatory L. Boccherini in Lucca, and then specialized in Music and New Technologies at the Conservatory L. Cherubini in Florence. He studied film scoring with masters such as Luis Bacalov and Franco Mannino. His works are published by the publishing and recording companies Da Vinci Publishing and Classics, EMA Vinci Records and are available on all digital streaming platforms. His work reflects a continuous artistic research between tradition and innovation. Among his most important works are Camille for saxophone orchestra, performed at the World Saxophone Congress; Sonnets for orchestra, piano, saxophone and voice on Shakespeare's Sonnets, premiered in Umbria, 2 miniatures for organ and flute premiered in Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavik and Saxofour for saxophone quartet, premiered at Palazzo Blu, Pisa.
2024
Bára Grímsdóttir is an Icelandic composer, singer, choir conductor and music teacher. She was born in Blönduós in the north of Iceland in 1960. She studied Theory and Composition and Music Education at the Reykjavík College of Music, before pursuing post-graduate composition studies with Louis Andriessen and others in Holland for 5 years. Bára has written many pieces for different sizes and types of vocal groups and choirs. She has composed instrumental music for solo instruments, various small and medium sized ensembles, and orchestras. She has also composed an opera and music for theatre. Her works have been widely performed and recorded in Iceland and abroad. Bára has a deep involvement with the traditional folk music of Iceland, performing, recording, touring and teaching widely in Europe and North America. She has been the chairperson of the folk music and poetry association Kvæðamannafélagið Iðunn since 2015.
2023
Daníel Þorsteinsson (1963) started his career as a pianist alongside his studies at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam where he received his DM degree in pianoplaying and pedagogy in 1993. Since then he has been quite active in the Icelandic music schene, performing as a pianist, accompanist, organist and on the accordion music from various genres. As a conductor Daníel has worked e.g. with choirs, chamber ensembles and the North Icelandic Symphony Orchestra. Through the years Daníel has been more and more involved in composing and in 2021 he finished his MMus degree in composition from the Icelandic Academy of the Arts. His output as a composer consists of various works comissioned for choirs, solo singers, chamber ensembles and orchestras, theater and instrumentalists. Daníel has been the recipient of artistic salary from the Icelandic Ministry of Education and Culture several times, both as a performer and composer.