Berglind María Tómasdóttir

Introduction to seminar talks

Last January 26, a seminar was held under the title Listen well. The seminar was held by RíT - Laboratory of Music, which operates at the music department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts - in collaboration with the music festival Myrkir músíkdagar. The content of the seminar was the listening and legacy of the American composer Pauline Oliveros. At the festival, Skerpla's concerts were also held, where works by Pauline Oliveros were performed, as well as the documentary Deep Listening, which deals with the life work of Pauline Oliveros, was shown at the festival. It can therefore be said that Myrkrir músíkdagar this year had a micro-music festival dedicated to Pauline Oliveros.

Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) was a creative musician and a pioneer in the field of music Her career spans over six decades and was ever-changing; her earliest works bear the mark of the traditional compositional studies she pursued In the 1960s, Oliveros was among the pioneers on the west coast of the United States who dealt with electronic music. It wasn't long before her musical practice still changed and then influenced by the political zeitgeist of the time. It became a practice that later became known as Deep Listening.

Pauline Oliveros„ ideas about listening were the center of the seminar Listen carefully Dr. Rachel Beetz rode the ford with the talk “Listening beyond Pauline Oliveros„ (e. Listening beyond Pauline Oliveros). Subsequently, Dr. Angela Rawlings gave the talk “Listening is connecting is supporting" (e. To Listen is to relate is to sustain). Both talks took place in English and appear here in Thread's publication. The composition was also performed at the seminar Thickening Time by Linnéa Falck, composition student at the Iceland Academy of the Arts. The performers were singer Bergthóra Ægisdóttir, cellist Sigurður Halldórsson and signed on flute. Part of the work was in video form that Linnéa worked on in collaboration with student Iða Brá Ingadóttir at the art department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts. At the end of the seminar, Stefanía Helga Sigurðardóttir, composition student at the music department of the Iceland Academy of the Arts, led discussions.

Skerpla's concerts at Myrkum músíkdági took place on January 24 in Harpa's open space. Some of the works performed can be found among Sonic Meditations, which were published in the early 1970s, others are from the later stages of Oliveros' life. The works were all selected and performed by students in Skerpla who also benefited from the fullness of singer Bergthóra Ægisdóttir, flutist Rachel Beetz and accordionist Sóleyjar Stefánsdóttir and part-time teacher at the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Here you can see photographs from the concert and the seminar.[1]

Enjoy.

Performers: Sharpen 
Skerpla is a music group that works within the Iceland Academy of the Arts, founded in autumn 2018. Skerpla researches, creates and performs music of an experimental nature with the aim of expanding traditional ideas about music. Berglind María Tómasdóttir, professor at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, and John McCowen, part-time teacher at the same school lead Skerpla's activities.

Photographer: Hans Vera.