The choir
The University Choir of Iceland (Háskólakórinn) was founded in 1972 and recently celebrated its 50-year anniversary in 2022. The choir normally consists of around 70 singers, most of whom are students at the University of Iceland, Reykjavík University, or the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Every year foreign exchange students in Iceland participate in the choir as well. The choir often performs in important ceremonies and special occasions on campus, such as graduations, in addition to its own independent concerts in which it performs every semester. The University Choir organizes annual trips at the end of the academic year, both within Iceland and abroad, in order to perform at concerts and participate in choral festivals and competitions, having won several prizes and awards at such events over the years. The choir has released a number of records and CDs of Icelandic music, and recently commissioned the work The Time is Now by composer Bára Grímsdóttir in honor of its 50th anniversary, which it debuted together with the Icelandic Youth Symphony Orchestra on March 26, 2022.
The conductor
Gunnsteinn Ólafsson has conducted the University Choir of Iceland (Háskólakórinn) since 2007. He was born in Siglufjörður in northern Iceland in 1962, but grew up in Kópavogur, where he conducted Kópavogur Upper Secondary School’s choir from 1979–1983 and composed many pieces for the choir under the direction of Reykjavík College of Music professor Jón Ásgeirsson. Gunnsteinn subsequently continued his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary from 1983–1987 and went on to study conducting and musicology at the Freiburg Conservatory in Germany from 1988–1992. Since finishing his studies, Gunnsteinn has worked as a composer, a choral and orchestral conductor, and a music teacher at the Iceland University of the Arts and the Reykjavík College of Music. He has additionally served as artistic director for the Siglufjörður Folk Music Festival since 2000, and collected numerous Icelandic folk songs for the Rev. Bjarni Þorsteinsson Folk Music Center in Siglufjörður. He is as well author of some children’s books and books about Icelandic nature.
Info
The choir practices Tuesdays and Thursdays in Neskirkja from 17:15 until 19:30.
If you have any questions regarding the choir or its auditions and activities don’t hesitate to contact us at kor@hi.is.