Concurrence, ISO Project Vol. 2

“I am both very proud and excited to bring out the second volume of this recording project dedicated to bringing the orchestral sound world of Icelandic composers to the ears of the world. This album also represents the ongoing wonderful collaboration between the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Sono Luminus. These recordings, with the orchestra sat in a circle and me conducting in the middle, have been an unusual adventure for us all; challenging and exciting at the same time. The whole team at Sono Luminus have been extremely dedicated and ambitious throughout, working hard to bring this music to recording in the best and most immersive way possible today.”

- Daníel Bjarnason, Conductor

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert in 1950 and has since expanded from a part-time ensemble of forty players to an internationally renowned orchestra of eighty-five full-time musicians. As Iceland’s national orchestra, resident at Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík and funded in large part by the Icelandic state and the city of Reykjavík, it gives around a hundred concerts each season, its repertoire ranging from traditional classical works to contemporary and film music. It has worked with such renowned musicians as Daniel Barenboim, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, Jonas Kaufmann, Isabelle Faust, and Evelyn Glennie. Currently Conductor Laureate, Vladimir Ashkenazy has conducted the Orchestra regularly since the early 1970s. Among the orchestra’s former Chief Conductors are Petri Sakari, Rumon Gamba, Ilan Volkov, and Yan Pascal Tortelier. Osmo Vänska is Honorary Conductor, having worked closely with the orchestra since his tenure as Chief Conductor in the 1990s, and the highly acclaimed Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir is Composer-in-Residence. In September 2020, the Finnish conductor Eva Ollikainen will assume the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director.