María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir
(b. 1980) is a composer and a violinist.
She graduated as a violinist from the Reykjavik College of Music in 2000 and with a Bachelor’s degree in composition from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2007.
Maria is a member of the band amiina from 1999. amiina has released and recorded several albums and performed their music around the world as well as collaborated with various artists. With amiina, Maria was a touring member and collaborator of Sigur Rós from 2000-2008.Maria has composed music for orchestras, various sized ensembles, choir, choreography and films. Maria's compositions have been recorded and released internationally. Clockworking, Sleeping Pendulum, Aequora, Spirals, Loom and Kom vinur all have been released on the US label Sono Luminus.
Her piece, Loom, was on the top 25 list of best classical music tracks of 2018 in The New York Times. The album Concurrence, which includes Maria's piece Oceans, performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Daníel Bjarnason was on the top 25 list of best classical music albums of 2019 in The New York Times as well as nominated for the Grammy awards 2021 for best performance.Recent work includes music for the performance piece Moving off Land by Joan Jonas, Horfnir skógar string quartet, Pending for solo double bass and Clockworking (orchestral version) commissioned by Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. As well as composing her own music, Maria has recorded and collaborated with a range of artists, musicians and bands. Her compositions have been performed in Iceland, USA, Australia and Europe.
-
(1980) stundaði fiðlunám í Tónmenntaskóla Reykjavíkur og Tónlistarskólanum í Reykjavík þaðan sem hún útskrifaðist með einleikarapróf á fiðlu árið 2000. Hún útskrifaðist frá Listaháskólanum vorið 2007 með BA gráðu af tónsmíða og nýmiðlabraut. María Huld starfaði til 10 ára með hljómsveitinni Sigur Rós og hefur frá árinu 1999 verið meðlimur í hljómsveitinni amiinu. Amiina hefur gefið út fjölda platna og komið fram á tónleikum um víða veröld sem og unnið með fjölda listamanna.María Huld hefur á síðustu árum samið fjölda verka fyrir hljómsveitir, kammerhópa, kóra og einleikara, auk tónlistar við kvikmyndir og sviðsverk. Verk hennar hafa verið flutt víða um heim. Meðal tónverka Maríu Huldar má nefna tónverkin Aequora og Oceans sem samin voru að beiðni Sinfóníuhljómsveitar Íslands. Bæði verkin hafa verið tekin upp og gefin út á plötunum Concurrence og Recurrence á vegum bandaríska útgáfufyrirtækisins Sono Luminus í samstarfi við SÍ. Concurrence, var valin ein af 25 bestu hljómsdiskum með klassískri tónlist af NYT Magazine ársins 2019 sem og tilnefnd til Grammyverðlaunanna árið 2021 fyrir besta flutning.
Verk Maríu, Loom, í flutningi Nordic Affect var valið á lista NYT yfir 25 bestu klassísku verk ársins 2018. Af nýjum verkum Maríu Huldar má nefna sellóverkið Octo sem samið var fyrir Gyðu Valtýsdóttur, Umfang, fyrir strengjakvartett og rödd við texta eftir Kristínu Eiríksdóttur og hljómveitarútsetningu af tónverkinu Clockworking sem frumflutt var af Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra í janúar 2020.
Pending, fyrir sóló kontrabassa, var samið að beiðni Bang on a Can og frumflutt í NY í júní 2021 og Horfnir skógar, strengjakvartett fyrir Strokkvartettinn Sigga vorið 2021.
Í janúar 2021 komu út á vegum Sono Luminus upptökur á kórverkum Maríu Huldar við ljóð Vilborgar Dagbjartsdóttur í flutningi Schola Cantorum.
Daniel Roberts
A Professor in Dance at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he began studying piano at the age of seven and came to dance as an accompanist for ballet classes at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera Academy. He graduated magna cum laude from the Ohio State University with a BFA in dance performance and specialization in Labanotation. While an undergraduate at OSU, Roberts’ dual reconstruction of prepared piano and dance for Cage/Cunningham’s Totem Ancestor (1942) was the first reconstruction of the dance since Cunningham’s own performance of the solo in the 1950s. As a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC), Roberts had the opportunity to perform a vast repertory and create several original roles in Cunningham’s choreography and appeared in several of Cunningham’s works for camera, most notably in Charles Atlas’ film Merce Cunningham: A Lifetime of Dance. After leaving MCDC, Roberts was invited to be head technique teacher at the Danish National School of Contemporary Dance, in Copenhagen, Denmark. His pedagogy is featured in the book/DVD Dance Techniques (Tanzplan Deutschland 2010). While in Scandinavia, Roberts worked as a rehearsal assistant for a myriad professional choreographers, the Royal Danish Ballet and was Rehearsal Director for the national dance company, Danish Dance Theater. Roberts has restaged Cunningham’s work on Kansas City Ballet, Oklahoma University’s School of Dance, The Belgian Konservatorium, and Skolen for Moderne Dance in Copenhagen. At OSU, Roberts, along with Karen Eliot, directed the Black Mountain MinEvent for the National Tour of the Look Before You Leap Exhibit. Roberts has an MFA in Performing Arts from Bennington College and his choreography has been presented in Columbus, New York at Danspace Project and Movement Research, Velocity Dance Center in Seattle, Balé Teatro Castro Alves in Salvador, Brazil, World Dance Alliance gala in Taiwan, and throughout Denmark. His choreographic research explores movement invention through dance and music improvisation, and the inherent musical properties of natural phenomena. Roberts’ work Pondus, set to Sigfusdottir’s Clockworking, was featured on the 2020 Ohio Dance gala concert. He has taught nationally and internationally at several dance companies, festivals, schools, and universities. Roberts has been visiting artist in residence at Williams College in Massachusetts, faculty at Ballet Academy East in New York City, and ongoing faculty at the Merce Cunningham Trust in NYC. He is a 2019 Fulbright Specialist (Taiwan) and is a 2015 Cunningham Fellow.
Kjartan Sveinsson, member of the band Sigur Rós, contributing music to AWOK. Iceland. kjartansveinsson.com
Ólof Arnalds, vocalist, featured soloist in AWOK. Iceland. olofarnalds.com
Skúli Sverrisson, contributing music in AWOK, Iceland. skulisverrisson.bandcamp.com