Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, mixer, composer, audio engineer and musician.

Biography

Coming from a musical background, Valgeir's fascination with recording technology led to a job in a small recording studio at the age of 16. He plays keyboards, bass, percussion, electronics/programming and studied classical guitar, graduating with a

Tonmeister Tonmeister is most often found as a job description in the music and recording industries. It describes a person who is a sound master (a literal translation of the German word): a person who creates recordings or broadcasts of music who is both d ...

degree from London's

SAE Institute The SAE Institute (SAE, formerly the School of Audio Engineering and the SAE Technology College) is a private for-profit college with campuses and facilities, including licensed franchise operations, in 50 cities in 20 countries. It was found ...

. In 1998 Valgeir was hired by fellow countrywoman Björk as engineer and programmer on the soundtrack for

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier ('' né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nomina ...

's ''

Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical drama film written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...

''. A song from the film, ''

I've Seen It All "I've Seen It All" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for the ''Dancer in the Dark'' soundtrack, ''Selmasongs'' (2000). It was written by the singer, along with Sjón and Lars von Trier, who also directed the film. It was released as ...

'' (a duet with Radiohead's

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) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to

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's ''

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''. Valgeir created the distinctive train-rhythm that runs through the song. His working relationship with Björk continued beyond the film project and was consistent from early 1998 until 2006, during which time Valgeir was one of her main studio collaborators. Valgeir is the founder of Greenhouse Studios, Iceland's top recording facility established in 1997, where in addition to Björk, he has collaborated with artists such as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Feist, Damon Albarn, Camille,

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, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós,

Emel Mathlouthi Emel Mathlouthi ( ar, آمال المثلوثي) also known as Emel, born 11 January 1982), is a Tunisian singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. She rose to fame with her protest song " Kelmti Horra" ("My Word is Free"), which became ...

, and many others. In 2005 he founded the

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record label launching the recording career of

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and producing and releasing albums by

and

. He has composed music for TV, film and theatre and his debut solo album '' Ekvílibríum'' was released by Bedroom Community in 2007, followed by a release of his soundtrack for Dreamland ('' Draumalandið'') in 2009. The score of Dreamland was performed live in 2011 by the

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by the

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in 2012, and the

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and

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, in 2013. His first conventional classical commission, ''Nebraska Quartet'' was premiered by the

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at the

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during NYC's Ecstatic Music Festival in 2011. Valgeir's third LP ''Architecture of Loss'' was released in September 2012 to critical acclaim. ''Ghosts'', for chamber ensemble, was the result of a commission the

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, and launched in Dublin in November 2013. The

and

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premiered ''Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-Five'', for orchestra and electronics, as part of its annual New Music Festival in January 2014.

Selected works

Stage works

*''Green Aria'' (co-composed with

), for chamber orchestra and electronics, 2009 *''Architecture of Loss'', ballet for chamber ensemble of 3 players and electronics, 2012 *''Wide Slumber for lepidopterists'' music-theatre piece for 3 singers, 4 musicians and electronics, 2014 *''Woman Undone'', music-theatre work for five singers/instrumentalists, 2018

Orchestral

*''Dreamland'' for large orchestra and electronics, 2011 *''Dreamland'' for chamber orchestra and optional electronics, 2013 *''Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-Five'' for orchestra and electronics, 2013 *''No Nights Dark Enough'' for chamber orchestra and electronics, 2014

Ensemble

*''Past Tundra'' for chamber ensemble of 9 players with electronics, 2011 *''Nebraska'' for string quartet, 2011 *''Architecture of Loss'', ballet for chamber ensemble of 3 players and electronics, 2012 *''Ghosts'', for chamber ensemble of 10 players with electronics, 2013 *''The Crumbling'' (from ''Architecture of Loss''), for chamber ensemble of 6 players, 2014 *''Raindamage'', for string trio and electronics, 2014 *''Dissonance'', for viola da gamba and electronics, 2014 *''Veej'', for chamber ensemble of 18 players, 2015 *''For Love of Her (do but kill me)'', for voice, chamber ensemble of 10 players and electronics, 2015 *''Remnant'', for viola and electronics, 2018 *''Dust'', for violin and electronics, 2018

Electronics Only

*''Antigravity'', electronic track, 2016

Discography

Solo

Production

Film and TV

Other

*''Green Aria'' Music composed by Valgeir Sigurðsson and

for ''Scent Opera''. Guggenheim Museum, NYC, 2009.

References

External links

*
Artist page
on

*
Myspace
''The Independent'', 21 September 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sigurdsson, Valgeir 1971 births Living people Valgeir Sigurdsson Valgeir Sigurdsson