Artist in Collaboration: Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Daníel Bjarnason is one of Iceland’s foremost musical voices today, increasingly in demand as conductor, composer and programmer. He is Artist in Collaboration with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, an appointment that follows his tenures as Principal Guest Conductor and Artist in Residence.
As guest conductor, he debuts this season with Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra alongside his regular presence in Reykjavik with Iceland Symphony Orchestra throughout the season.
Keeping a busy composing schedule alongside his conducting commitments, many of his works are taken up beyond their premieres and regularly programmed around the world. This season sees the premiere of his Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, written for Martin Grubinger, presented by Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Last season saw the world premiere of his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, ‘FEAST’, written for Víkingur Ólafsson, performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles by Ólafsson and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
In 2020/21 he appeared with Tapiola Sinfonietta, while regularly conducting Iceland Symphony, presenting the Icelandic premiere of his Violin Concerto with Pekka Kuusisto. He also had a new short piece premiered with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which previously commissioned other works from him.
He has previously conducted Göteborgs Symfoniker, Gävle Symfoniorkester, Aalborg Symfoniorkester and Turun Filharmoninen Orkesteri in Europe, while in North America he has appeared with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony orchestras, and in Japan with Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
Bjarnason maintains a close connection with Los Angeles Philharmonic, having written From Space I Saw Earth for Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta and Esa-Pekka Salonen to conduct together at its Centennial Birthday Celebration Concert and Gala in 2019. In 2017 they premiered Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto at the Hollywood Bowl, in a co-commission with Iceland Symphony for Pekka Kuusisto, while he co-curated the orchestra’s Reykjavík Festival, an eclectic and multi-disciplinary 17-day event, in which he featured as conductor and composer.
Violin Concerto ‘Scordatura’, became a success with audiences and orchestras and remains very popular. Kuusisto has performed it with Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, National Arts Center orchestras, Swedish Radio and Finnish Radio symphony orchestras, Göteborgs Symfoniker, MDR Sinfonieorchester and NDR Elbphilharmonie. Bjarnason conducts the recording of the work with Kuusisto, as part of the final instalment of a three-album recording project with Iceland Symphony for Sono Luminus focussing on Icelandic music and composers.