Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir

Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir is a composer and sound artist who follows inner logics when approaching composition, often integrating sound and other phenomena into an indivisible whole - creating mutable, breathing, living structures through experimental performance practices and notation.

 

Her work has been commissioned and performed widely, and by renowned groups such as the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, Esbjerg Ensemble, Norrbotten NEO, Decibel, Avanti!, Distractfold, and Nordic Affect to name a few, while featured in major festivals and events such as Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart, Tectonics, Nordic Music Days, Only Connect, Ultima, Sigur Rós’s Norður og Niður, KLANG, SPOR, ISCM’s World New Music Days, Sound of Stockholm, Prototype, Sequences and more.

 

After finishing her bachelor’s studies at Iceland University of the Arts, Bergrún completed a master’s degree in composition from Mills College where she studied with the likes of Pauline Oliveros, Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Frith and Zeena Parkins before relocating to Brooklyn, New York to work as a composer. She has been the recipient of awards and support from the Iceland Centre for Research, the Jerome Foundation, Iceland's National Public Radio, National Sawdust’s Hildegard award and the Elisabeth Mills Crothers award among others. Bergrún is currently residing in Reykjavík, Iceland and was appointed Assistant Professor of Composition at the IUA in 2022.