Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, composer and associate professor at the LHÍ music department, recently received a nomination for the Nordic Council's (Nordic Concil Music Prize) music award for the work Intraloper. The work was premiered at Myrkum Músíkdáði earlier this year by Bergrúna herself together with the prestigious brass quartet Apparat from Berlin. In the work, Bergrúna manages to form a unique sound world where low-key and changing motifs and sensitivity to space and tones take the audience on a fascinating and effective journey. At the same time, the effect is sensitive and calm, but also excited and haunting. In the reasoning of the jury, it says, among other things, that with the work Intraloper, Bergrún established herself as one of the most significant voices of the Icelandic avant-garde.
Bergrún's music has attracted ever-increasing attention in recent years, and her works have been performed by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Ensemble Musikfabrik in Germany and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She studied composition at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and later at Mills College in California, where she was guided by pioneers in progressive experimental music, such as Pauline Oliveros, Fred Frith and Zeena Parkins.
We sincerely congratulate Bergrúna on her nomination.