Kjartan Ólafsson (born 18 November 1958) is an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

, composer and academic. He is the creator of the composing software CALMUS and has worked on the use of

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

in classical music composition.

Life and education

A native of

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Kjartan Ólafsson spent from 1976 to 1989 studying music, composition and natural sciences at the Music College of

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second-largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. ...

, Hamrahliðar College,

Reykjavík College of Music The Reykjavík College of Music () is an Icelandic gymnasium (junior college) and music conservatory founded in 2017. It was created by the merger of the graduate levels of (also known as Reykjavík College of Music) and (Conservatory of the Ic ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

Conservatory and

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy (, ) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki ...

. He was a member of the short-lived band ''Smartbandið'' from 1985 to 1986 where he wrote the song Lalíf that topped the Icelandic charts for several weeks in 1986. In 1985, he received an award in the Icelandic Radio Competition for young composers and, in the near-quarter-century since, has been lecturing and holding seminars at such venues as the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

(1990), Reykjavík College of Music (1991–93), Sibelius Academy (1992),

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

's Avanti Summer Festival in

Porvoo Porvoo (; ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately , while the Porvoo sub-region, sub-re ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

's International Computer Music Conference in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

(both 1994). In 2000, in connection with Reykjavík's status as the millennial and century year's European Culture City, he served as director of ''Icelandic Music in 100 Years'', which became the largest festival of the country's music held up to that moment. In 2002, he traveled to the United States to lecture at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

regarding use of CALMUS for algorithmic composing, a subject he updated with lectures at the 2008

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg ( German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteu ...

. Having taught music in the early 1990s at the Reykjavik College of Music, Kjartan has held, since 2005, the position of Professor of Composition and Theory at

Iceland Academy of the Arts Iceland University of the Arts ( ) is an Icelandic institution of higher art education, located in Reykjavík, which offers the only university-level degrees in the arts in Iceland.Lisa Z. ValdimarsdottirIceland Academy of the Arts, Department of ...

Selected works

* ''Dimma'' (Dusk) for viola and piano (1985) * '' Lalíf'' (1985) * Concerto for viola and orchestra (1995)

References

Kjartan Ólafsson professional website (includes photographs, career outline, lists of compositions, books, articles and reviews)
''in Icelandic* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060425203658/http://lhi.is/OpniListahaskolinn/ Icelandic Academy of Arts website Kjartan Olafsson Kjartan Olafsson Kjartan Olafsson Kjartan Olafsson Artificial intelligence researchers Kjartan Olafsson Kjartan Olafsson 1958 births Living people Kjartan Olafsson {{Iceland-bio-stub