Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts - Concert Hall

Date: May 19, 2017

Artist

Víkingur Ólafsson Pianist

Possessing a rare combination of passionate musicality, explosive virtuosity and intellectual curiosity, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has won all the major prizes in his native country, including four Musician of the Year prizes at the Icelandic Music Awards as well as The Icelandic Optimism Prize.

Víkingur’s 2016/17 season includes performances of Haukur Tómasson’s new piano concerto with NDR Elbphilhamonie Orchester (world premiere) and Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, as well as concerts with Iceland Symphony Orchestra (Yan Pascal Tortelier) and MDR Sinfonieorchester (Kristjan Järvi). Since February 2016, he has taken over from Martin Fröst as Artistic Director of Vinterfest in Sweden while continuing in the same role for the award winning Reykjavík Midsummer Music, which he founded in 2012. In recital, he will make his debut at Wiener Konzerthaus and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg as well in Leipzig and at the Istanbul Music Festival.

Víkingur has premiered four piano concertos to date and worked with composers including Philip Glass, Mark Simpson and Daníel Bjarnason. He has collaborated with leading artists from diverse fields, such as Roman Signer, Lillevan and Yann Malka, and appeared at festivals such as Busoni and Transart (both in Bolzano), MITO SettembreMusica (Milano) and Nordic Cool (Washington DC). When it comes to his relationships with other musicians, Víkingur has worked with Martin Fröst, Sayaka Shoji, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Pekka Kuusisto and Björk.

Away from the concert stage, Víkingur is the driving force behind numerous innovative musical projects. Most recently the classical music television series, Útúrdúr (Out-of-tune), produced for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service in 2013-14, was broadcast to unanimous critical and public acclaim.

In 2009, Víkingur founded his own record label, Dirrindí, and has released three albums to date. The first two were solo discs: Debut, (showing “exceptional perception and depth of maturity,” said EPTA Journal) and Chopin-Bach (prompting Piano News Magazine to say “Immense talent … you must listen to this young pianist!”). His third album was a double CD/DVD release of Winterreise with bass Kristinn Sigmundsson, which won the Album of the Year award at the Icelandic Music Awards 2012. In 2015 Víkingur recorded solo works by Igor Stravinsky for Deutsche Grammophone's complete works edition of the composer.

Víkingur grew up in Iceland where he studied with Erla Stefánsdóttir and Peter Máté. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald.

Presenter

Trondheim Solistene

The chamber orchestra TrondheimSolistene (The Trondheim Soloists) is carving out its own musical territory featured with passion, perfection and raw intensity.

The orchestra was founded in 1988 to give the best music students in Trondheim an opportunity to play together and to gain concert experience. It has since established itself as one of the most distinguished ensembles in Norway, and has won international recognition for its own distinctively open and clear orchestral sound, described by the British music magazine Classic FM as "The Trondheim Sound".

Teamwork and a lively musical inquisitiveness are core values, and under the direction of cellist and music teacher Øyvind Gimse, who has been artistic director since 2002, the orchestra’s musicians have continued to develop the virtuosity and confidence that allow them to play what they want, when they want, and to take chances rather than play safe.

The orchestra’s energetic musicality and sheer joy in music-making are infectious. In 1999 a fruitful association with the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter was begun that has spanned many years and has included concerts, tours and recordings, and this has contributed to the orchestra’s growing reputation at home and abroad, leading to an increasing number of engagements. The orchestra has performed with leading artists not only in classical music, but also in jazz, folk music, rock and pop.

TrondheimSolistene has been featured on more than 50 albums. Its recordings for the 2L label have won great acclaim, earning not only two Spellemannpriser (Norwegian music awards), but also, for the albums Divertimenti, In Folk Style, Souvenir and Reflections, a total of 10 Grammy nominations, as well as glowing international reviews. The orchestra's best-selling release to date has been Vivaldi's The Four Seasons with Mutter as soloist, on the Deutsche Grammophon label (with approximately 700,000 records sold).

The development of musical talent and the fostering of an enduring musical environment in Trondheim constitute a vital part of this orchestra’s work. It has close ties with the Department of Music at NTNU (the Norwegian University of Science and Technology). The promotion of Norwegian music and of contemporary music is also a strong commitment. The ensemble never travels abroad without Norwegian music on its programme, and it has premiered about 50 works specially written for the orchestra.Source: National Centre for the Performing Arts