29.11.25
Seltjarnarnes church
Performers
Amateur Symphony Orchestra
BA Instrumental Composition
Júlíus Máni Sigurðsson was born in Reykjavík in 2001. He started learning the clarinet in the School Orchestra of Vesturbær and Miðbær at the age of 8. Later he studied at Sigursvein's Music School, where his teachers included Grímur Helgason and Guðni Franzson. In 2018 he joined the ranks of the Choir of the High School at Hamrahlíð, which sparked his interest in choral music, and he has been in choir ever since, for the longest time in Hallgrímskirkja Choir and Huldi Chamber Choir.
Júlíus began studying instrumental composition at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2022. At the University of the Arts, Júlíus has studied composition under the guidance of Hildigunn Rúnarsdóttir, and Hróðmar Inga Sigurbjörnsson. He has also studied choral conducting, was a mentor and arranger at Uptaktin and participated in the Summer Concert in Skálholt.
The compositional career began in Huldi's Chamber Choir, under the direction of Hreiðar Inga Þorsteinsson, which emphasizes new compositions for choir. The choir performed works by Júlíus, and other members of the choir, at the European Youth Choir Festival in Basel in the summer of 2025. In the spring of 2026, Huldur will release a record, which will include Júlíus' compositions.
Brak is Julius' final project from the Academy of Arts, composed over a period of several months in 2025. In the work you can hear influences from various sources, for example Jón Nordal, Igor Stravinsky, Jón Leifs and Charles Koechlin. The work can be described as a smooth surface of water, which is disturbed by a drop that breaks the water and ripples it, until the water recalculates.