Festival programme 2019
June 1 to 10 2019
June 1 Saturday
3 PM FESTIVE OPENING – free entrance- all are welcome!
Performers: The organ virtuous Isabelle Demers. Jóhann Nardeau and Baldvin Oddsson trumpets with Björn Steinar Sólbergsson organ. Carillon concert in and outside the church.
3:30 PM OPENING OF FINNBOGI PÉTURSSON’s art exhibition in Hallgrímskirkja and Ásmundarsalur.
5 PM OPENING CONCERT – PREMIÉRE- MYSTERIUM, new oratorio by Hafliði Hallgrímsson. Performers: The Hallgrimskirkja Motet Choir, Schola cantorum, Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir soprano, Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir alto, Elmar Gilbertsson tenor, Oddur A. Jónsson bass and Hallgrimskirkja Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Hörður Áskelsson.
Isabelle Demers consert organist plays from O. Messiaen’s L ́Ascension at the beginning of the concert. Admission: 6.900 ISK.
June 2 – Sunday
11 AM Festive mass. Hljómeyki-chamber choir, brass quartett, organ.
3 PM Hafliði Hallgrímsson composer interviewed in Ásmundarsalur.
5 PM MYSTERIUM –ORATORIO repeated concert, see June 1st
June 3 – Monday
12 AM Artist Finnbogi Pétursson interviewed in Ásmundarsalur.
9 PM THE STRANGER. A programme of sounds, words and music by Halldór Hauksson, inspired by the novel of Albert Camus. Admission: 2.900 ISK
4 June – Tuesday
12 AM Musician Marina Albero interviewed in Ásmundarsalur.
9 PM HYMNS TO THE HOLY VIRGIN FROM THE RED BOOK OF MONTSERRAT
“They sometimes want to sing and dance”
Chamber ensemble Umbra with Marina Albero, internationally acclaimed psalterium player, perform songs to the Virgin Mary from medieval Catalonia and Scandinavia. Special guests also include percussionists Eggert Pálsson and Kristofer Rodriguez Svönuson, cellist Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir, and the gregorian vocal ensemble Cantores Islandiae. Umbra received the Icelandic Music Awards 2018 for its second album “Sólhvörf // Solstice”, in the Folk Music category. Admission: 5.900 ISK.
June 5 Wednesday
8 PM FESTIVAL SOUNDS – TWO TRUMPETS AND ORGAN
Jóhann Nardeau and Baldvin Oddsson, trumpets, and award-winning French organist David Cassan perform music by Charpentier, Vivaldi, Handel and others. Admission: 4.900 ISK.
June 6 Thursday
12 AM ORGAN MATINÉE – Veni, Creator Spiritus.
Björn Steinar Sólbergsson, organist at Hallgrímskirkja, plays works for Pentecost by J.S.Bach and Duruflé. No entrance free – everybody welcome!
June 7 Friday
4 PM The singer Benedikt Kristjánsson interviewed in Ásmundarsalur.
June 8 Saturday
5 PM EVENSONG J.S.Bach cantata Bleib bei uns (BWV 6). David Erler countertenor, Benedikt Kristjánsson tenor, Oddur A. Jónsson bass, Schola Cantorum and the Hallgrímskirkja International Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Hörður Áskelsson.
No entrance free – everybody welcome!
5:50 PM – Pentecost rung in. Carillon.
6 PM – Carillon and bells of Hallgrímskirkja inside and out, including in Ásmundarsalur as part of the Finnbogi Pétursson exhibition.
21:00 COMPUTERS, KLAIS AND CARILLON
Curator: Guðmundur Vignir Karlsson. The Klais grand organ and carillon of Hallgrímskirkja join forces with state-of-the-art computer technology.
Selection of songs that have been composed for the MIDI-equipped organ.
Composers: Ingi Garðar Erlendsson, Gunnar Andreas Kristinsson, Ragnhildur Gísladóttir, Sveinn Ingi Reynisson, Guðmundur Vignir Karlsson, Hlynur Aðils Vilmarsson and Halldór Eldjárn.
June 9 Sunday
11 AM FESTIVAL MASS J.S.Bach cantata O ewiges Feuer (BWV 34).
David Erler countertenor, Benedikt Kristjánsson tenor, Oddur A. Jónsson bass, with the Hallgrímskirkja Motet Choir, the Hallgrímskirkja International Baroque Orchestra, and Björn Steinar Sólbergsson, organ. Conductor: Hörður Áskelsson. Entrance free – everybody welcome!
8 PM FESTIVAL CONCERT OF BAROQUE MUSIC with the Hallgrímskirkja International Baroque Orchestra. Dances Joyful, Dances Solemn.
Music for oboe, trumpet, timpani and strings by Telemann and Vivaldi. Orchestral Suite in B minor (BWV 1067) by J.S.Bach. Flute soloist: Georgia Brown (Australia).
Leader: Tuomo Suni. Admission: 4.900 ISK
June 10 Monday
11 AM FESTIVAL MASS FOR WHIT MONDAY. Concert of French music performed by the Graduale Nobili youth choir. Conductor: Þorvaldur Örn Davíðsson. Organist: Björn Steinar Sólbergsson.
3 PM The composer Sigurður Sævarsson interviewed in Ásmundarsalur.
5 PM CLOSING CONCERT – Eternal Fire, Fountain of Love.
Three cantatas for Pentecost by J.S.Bach: Erschallet, ihr Lieder (BWV 172), O ewiges Feuer, O, Ursprung der Liebe (BWV 34), and Bleib bei uns (BWV 6). Première of Veni, Sancte Spiritus, a cantata for Pentecost by Sigurður Sævarsson. Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir soprano, Hildigunnur Einarsdóttir alto, David Erler countertenor, Benedikt Kristjánsson tenor and Oddur A. Jónsson bass. Schola Cantorum, the Hallgrímskirkja Motet Choir and the Hallgrímskirkja International Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Hörður Áskelsson.
Admission: 5.900 ISK