An elegant, exhilarating piano recital with one of Iceland´s most celebrated young pianists, Víkingur Òlafsson who now stands on the brink of a stunning international career. Vikingur has an exquisite tone and is indeed as critics maintain, born to the play the piano.
Víkingur Ólafsson commands a very special combination of passionate musicality, explosive virtuosity and intellectual curiosity when he performs. He is a natural communicator with a distinct artistic personality, full of ideas, and highly creative in terms of his musical perspectives.
Víkingur is currently involved in various fascinating projects which point to a gift for pushing the boundaries. Whether he is opening the Icelandic chamber music festival Reykjavik Midsummer Music, or participating in Útúrdúr (Out-of-tune); a classical music series on Icelandic TV he is never stuck for ideas. He founded the record label Dirrindí in 2009, on which he has released three records. In February he took over the artistic reins of the music festival Vinterfest in Sweden.
Víkingur Òlafsson has made a clean sweep of the prizes in his homeland. He has been awarded Musician of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards (Íslensku Tónlistarverðlaunin) no less than three times and his third album ”Winterreise” was crowned as the best album of 2012.
This year´s concert season for Víkingur includes recitals with music by Scriabin, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Daníel Bjarnason, Beethoven and Thórdur Magnusson (a world premiere). In 2015/2016 he will appear as a soloist with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Filharmonia and of course the Island Symfoniorkester (Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands).
Víkingur has premiered five contemporary piano concertos and worked with composers such as Philip Glass, Haukur Tómasson, Mark Simpson and Daníel Bjarnasson. He has collaborated with artists such as Roman Signer, Lillevan and Yann Malta and has performed at festivals such as the Busoni (Bolzano), MITO SettembreMusica in Milan and Nordic Cool in Washington DC.