Haraldur Vignir Sveinbjörnsson (born 1975) is an Icelandic composer and arranger.

Education

He studied piano with Árni Harðarson at the Kopavogur Music School where he graduated in 1997. He finished his BA degree in composition at Reykjavik Music College 2001 with Hilmar Þórðarson, and MMus degree in composition at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

(Malmö Music University) where he studied with Kent Olofsson and Prof
Luca Francesconi
Haraldur also studied recording technique and Electroacoustic music through various courses in Iceland and Sweden.

Compositions

His orchestra piece, ''Seven Songs of the Insomniac'' (), won the ''Morgondagens tonsättare'' () prize in Helsingborg, Sweden 2003. A year later, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra premiered two pieces by Haraldur, ''7 Songs of the Insomniac'' in February, and ''Hraun'' in May. 7 Songs of the Insomniac was also nominated as best

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

at the Icelandic Music Awards 2005. Other notable pieces include ''Memento Mei'' (2005) for mixed choir ''Piece & Harmony'' (2001) for

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

''Duel'' (2003) for solo contrabass and electronics ''Dawn'' (2007) for percussion duo ''Hodie'' (2009) for women's choir ''Forget-me-not'' (2016) for flute, violin and piano ''Painting'' (2016) for harp & percussion & ''Dots, commas, lines'' (2019) for wind octet. His pieces have been performed all over Europe, in the US and Australia. Along with classical compositions, Haraldur has been playing with various rock and pop groups, including Dead Sea Apple, Red Barnett and Menn Ársins. Hit songs include "Sick of Excuses" (Dead Sea Apple 1996), "A Yeah Yeah Love Song" (Dead Sea Apple 1997), "Dear God" (Dead Sea Apple 2003), "Bearer of Bad News" (Dead Sea Apple 2006), "Þakklæti" (Buff 2008), "12 Steps to the Liquor Store" (Menn Ársins 2008), "Gefst ekki upp" ( Eurovision song contest preliminary contest - Menn Ársins 2010) and "Life Support" (Red Barnett 2015). In 2010, he produced and arranged Regína Ósk's Christmas album "Regína Ósk um gleðileg jól". Haraldur also did orchestral arrangements for sold-out concerts in Iceland including

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

's The Wall with Dúndurfréttir and

Iceland Symphony Orchestra Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa (concert hall), Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution u ...

, Lennon tribute concert in Dec 2006 & Sgt.Peppers Orchestral Tribute concert in 2008, Páll Óskar & Iceland Symphony Orchestra 2011, Skálmöld & Iceland Symphony Orchestra's award-winning Metal Symphony concert in 2013 & 2018 and Týr & symphonic orchestra of the Faroe Islands in Feb 2020.

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sveinbjornsson, Haraldur Vignir Haraldur Vignir Sveinbjornsson Haraldur Vignir Sveinbjornsson Living people 1975 births