Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir has been described as “one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music” (NPR), writing music of “seemingly boundless textural imagination” (NY Times) that is “striking” (Guardian) in its sound world. She is the recipient of the Nordic Council Music Prize for her orchestral work Dreaming, as well as the New York Philharmonic’s Kravis Emerging Composer Award, and Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award and Martin E. Segal Award.
Her music is frequently performed by the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles, among them the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), New York Philharmonic, LA Phil, San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Iceland Symphony Orchestra, where she is currently Composer in Residence. She has been the focus of portrait concerts at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival in NYC, the Composer Portraits Series at NYC’s Miller Theatre and the Leading International Composers series at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC, and has been featured at London’s Spitalfields Music Festival, Munich Chamber Orchestra’s Nachtmusic der Moderne series, and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra’s Point Festival, as well as the BBC Proms, ISCM World Music Days, Musica Nova in Helsinki and the Beijing Modern Music Festival.
Anna holds a PhD (2011) from the University of California in San Diego. She is currently based in the London area.
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1 – 13 June 2025
