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Line Tjørnhøj and Bára Gísladóttir nominated for the Nordic Council Music Award

Line Tjørnhøj (Photo: Anders Bigum) / Bára Gísladóttir (Photo: Gabrielle Motola)

Line Tjørnhøj and Bára Gísladóttir nominated for the Nordic Council Music Award

The two composers, Line Tjørnhøj and Bára Gísladóttir are both nominated for the Nordic Council Music Award 2022.

People
10 May 2022

The Nordic Council Music Prize is awarded for musicianship of the highest standard, to a living composer, ensemble or individual musician who is considered innovative in his or her field. Among the nominated composer for this year’s award are Line Tjørnhøj with the work enTmenschT and Bára Gísladóttir nominated for the work VÍDDIR.

Line Tjørnhøj

Line Tjørnhøj has made her mark as a composer who often deals with painful and cruel subjects in powerful vocal works. She is nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize for her work enTmenschT (2018) which was premiered by the vocal ensemble Theatre of Voices and Paul Hillier in 2018.

Line Tjørnhøj's works are represented on several Dacapo releases: Her vocal work Vox Reportage is an abstract flowering of serious, existential themes inherent in contemporary life and it's presented as the central work on the Ars Nova album Crossing Borders. Tjørnhøj has contributed with works for piano and violin for the series Educate·S, with newly written music for children, which has been recorded for Dacapo Records. One can also hear Tjørnhøj's early work Lauria (1998) on the release Electronic Music Produced at DIEM 1987-2012.

Line Tjørnhøj (b. 1960) studied composition at The Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus with Simon Steen-Andersen, Niels Rønsholdt and Lasse Laursen. Her works have been performed by renowned ensembles and orchestras as Danish National Girls' Choir, Theatre of Voices, Göteborg Operan, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Ensemble Lydenskab, Esbjerg Ensemble among others.

Bára Gísladóttir

The works of Bára Gísladóttir are characterised by a deep and self-reflective calm, at times producing an almost meditative state in the music. Bára Gísladóttir is nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize for her work VÍDDIR (2020) an hour-long work composed for nine flutes, percussion trio, bass guitar and double bass.

In 2020, Bára Gísladóttir's debut album was released on Dacapo Records. The solo album HĪBER is an exploration of texture and darkness in eight parts, written for double bass and electronics and played by Bára Gísladóttir herself. The title, HĪBER, is a reference to hibernation and winter as a necessary break to save energy.

Bára Gísladóttir (b. 1989) studied at the Iceland University of the Arts, Conservatorio di musica “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano and the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Her teachers include Hróðmar I. Sigurbjörnsson, Þuríður Jónsdóttir, Gabriele Manca, Niels Rosing-Schow and Jeppe Just Christensen. Her works have been performed by, among others, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Phil, the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Ensemble InterContemporain and Ensemble Adapter.

The winner of the Nordic Council Music Award 2022 will be announced in Helsinki on 1 November.

  • Bára Gísladóttir

    HĪBER

  • Carl Nielsen, Niels W. Gade, Wilhelm Stenhammar, Vagn Holmboe, Line Tjørnhøj

    Crossing Borders

  • Birgitte Alsted, Simon Christensen, Fuzzy, Eva Noer Kondrup, Ib Nørholm, Morten Olsen, Kasper Rofelt, Martin Stauning, Line Tjørnhøj, Nicolai Worsaae

    EDUCATE·S – Pieces for Violin

  • Birgitte Alsted, Simon Christensen, Fuzzy, Eva Noer Kondrup, Ib Nørholm, Morten Olsen, Kasper Rofelt, Martin Stauning, Line Tjørnhøj, Nicolai Worsaae

    Educate·S – Pieces for Piano

  • Electronic Music Produced at DIEM 1987-2012