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
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion 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'' ( is, Sjö byltur svefnleysingjans), won the ''Morgondagens tonsättare'' ( en, Tomorrow's composer) 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 classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...
at the
Icelandic Music Awards
The Icelandic Music Awards ( is, Íslensku tónlistarverðlaunin) are the official annual music awards given in Iceland to commemorate the musical achievements of the year.
The award was established in 1993 with an annual rock award given by the ...
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 ...
''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
The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...
song contest preliminary contest - Menn Ársins 2010) and "Life Support" (Red Barnett 2015).
In 2010, he produced and arranged
Regína Ósk
Regína Ósk Óskarsdóttir (born 21 December 1977, in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic singer. She has participated for Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2001, 2003, and 2005 as a backing vocal, and in 2008 as a member of Eurobandið wi ...
'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 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 experimentation, philo ...
's The Wall with Dúndurfréttir and
Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution under the aus ...
, 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.