Voiceworks Alumni Concert

Great times yesterday at Wigmore Hall, London. We performed my piece "Ground: A dialogue study". Huge thanks to my poet Irum Fazal, and to my very talented performers: Matthew Mcguigan, Claire Grace Candy, Joy Boole and Benjamin Harry Graves. You guys were great! And ofcourse, thanks to all those who came to listen.

Here is more information about my great collaborators:

Irum Fazal

Matthew Mcguigan

Claire Grace Candy

(Joy Boole)

Benjamin Harry Graves

NewDots: small interview

New dots (http://www.newdots.org.uk/), who are producing a concert this November 20th, at the Forge, Camden (http://www.forgevenue.org/) with my piece Become (a duet) (later re-titled Castle In Air (Loftkastali) for viola and piano), interviewed me today over email. You can listen to the piece here: https://soundcloud.com/helgirafn/become-a-duet-1?in=helgirafn/sets/chamber-orchestral

• Which composers have been most influential on your work?

-For "Become (a duet)" I was mostly influenced by Arvo Pärt, Ligeti, Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff. Other composers that have influenced me is the Icelandic composer Jón Leifs, Dufay, Josquin des Prez, Abrahamsen, Salonen, Nielsen and jazz composers like Thad Jones, to name a few.

 

• Outside of music what fascinates you?

-Cycling is somewhat of a hobby and being outside in the countryside is very important to me. That´s where I recharge my batteries. I still havent combined these two interests and cycled in, or to, the country. That´s  something I should do next spring.
 

• How would you describe your music?

 -I´m still working on my personal style, but I became significally closer to it last term with pieces like "Become (a duet)" and "Penelopeia" for pierrot ensemble and bowed piano. I´d rather not introduce a half-cooked phrase at this time. Stay tuned.

 

• What are you currently working on?

-This term I´m starting concept work for a new opera which will be produced by Guildhall, School of Music and Drama and performed sometime in the fall of 2013 or spring 2014, most likely in the Courtauld Gallery, London. (Update: premiere confirmed July 12th 2015, Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, 4:30pm (semi-staged). 2nd and 3rd performance at the Tété-á-Tété: Opera festival July 30th and 31st, Westminster Kingsway College Theatre 7:45pm).

Voiceworks alumni concert

My first concert of the academic year will be this wednesday, november 17th, 5:30pm at Wigmore Hall, London. Free entrance, 5 new and interesting songs performed. 

 

http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/voiceworks-alumni-concert-31138

My group will be performing "Ground: A dialogue study" for soprano, tenor and 3 clarinets. Music by me and text by Irum Fazal.

Okkar á milli

Nei hvur ... ég var í útvarpinu í morgun. Nánar tiltekið í viðtali í "Okkar á milli" á Rás1 með Sigríði Pétursdóttur. 

 Hér er hægt að hlusta http://www.ruv.is/sarpurinn/okkar-a-milli/10102012-1

English:

I was on the radio this morning. A 40 minute interview about music and life in London. The interview is in Icelandic.

Skuggablóm - ready to go

My, and my friend´s Árni Kristjánsson´s, song cycle book Skuggablóm (Shadowflowers) is ready from the printers. We start with quite the small edition to begin with for promotion purposes in Iceland. As of now it´s only available in Icelandic, but who knows, maybe we´ll make an English version sometime in the future.

Here you can see the cover, made by Eyþór Páll Eyþórsson (Eythor Pall Eythorsson), and I for one think it´s a very captivating design.

Recording of all the songs is being planed sometime in this academic year. For those interested, a copy of the book can be ordered by emailing helgirafn@gmail.com

The prologue written by Árni Kristjánsson (in Icelandic):

Skuggablóm er ástarsaga Hrafns og Tinnu. Í upphafi
sögunnar hefur Hrafn nýlega kynnst Tinnu og finnst
hún engri lík. Þrátt fyrir að Hrafn sé hugfanginn af 
Tinnu veit hann ekki að hún á sér myrkar hliðar.
Það vita engin nema Tinna og Skuggablómin.

Þegar Tinna er ein ímyndar hún sér að hún búi í
dimmum kastala. Hún er drottning yfir verum sem
hún kallar skuggablóm. Blómin eru myrkar hugsanir
sem hún elur með sér. Tinna er svo djúpt sokkin í eigin
ímyndanir að fyrir henni eru skuggablómin orðin að
lifandi verum sem sjálfstæðan vilja. [...]