Víkingur Ólafsson (born 14 February 1984) is an Icelandic pianist. He has performed with leading orchestras in Europe and America, including the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

, Tonhalle Orchestra,

Czech Philharmonic The Czech Philharmonic () is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. Its principal performing venue is the Rudolfinum concert hall. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title of the orche ...

, and

Santa Cecilia Santa Cecilia (English: Saint Cecilia) may refer to: Places Brazil * Santa Cecília, Santa, Catarina, a city * Santa Cecília (district of São Paulo), a district of the city of São Paulo and a neighbourhood within the district * Santa Cecília ...

, and with such conductors as

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: ''The Tempest (opera), The T ...

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

, and

Santtu-Matias Rouvali Santtu-Matias Rouvali (born 5 November 1985) is a Finnish conductor and percussionist. He is chief conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and principal conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. Biography Rouvali was born in Lahti into a ...

. Víkingur has won numerous awards, including Album of the Year at the 2019 ''

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...

'' Awards for ''Johann Sebastian Bach'', Opus Klassik Award for Solo Instrumental in 2019 and 2020, and the

Rolf Schock Prize The Rolf Schock Prizes were established and endowed by bequest of philosopher and artist Rolf Schock (1933–1986). The prizes were first awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1993 and, since 2005, are awarded every three years. It is sometimes conside ...

in Music in 2022. Víkingur's album ''

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

Piano Works'' saw him named "Iceland's

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; 25 September 19324 October 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was among the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann Sebastian ...

" by the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and a "breathtakingly brilliant pianist" by ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

''; ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' heralded his "volcanic temperament, great virtuosity, taste for challenges".

Early life and education

Víkingur Ólafsson grew up in Reykjavík and started playing the piano at an early age under the tutelage of his mother, Svana Víkingsdóttir, a piano teacher. He later studied with Erla Stefánsdóttir and Peter Máté before attending the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York, earning bachelor's and master's degrees under the supervision of

Jerome Lowenthal Jerome Lowenthal (born February 11, 1932) is an American classical pianist. He has served as chair of the piano department at the Juilliard School in New York. Additionally, Lowenthal is on the faculty at Music Academy of the West in Montecito, Ca ...

and Robert McDonald. He also took lessons with Ann Schein.

Career

Víkingur has performed with leading orchestras around the world, including the

, Tonhalle Orchestra,

, and Santa Cecilia Orchestra. In 2011, he was the soloist in the opening concert for

Harpa ''Harpa'', common name the "harp snails", is a genus of large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Harpidae.Gofas, S.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Harpa Röding, 1798. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of ...

in Reykjavík, playing

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

piano concerto A piano concerto, a type of concerto, is a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for piano accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuosic showpieces which require an advance ...

with the

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 ...

under the baton of

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is a Soviet-born Icelandic pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, ...

. In 2016, he signed a recording contract with

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

, part of

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

. In the 2019–20 season, Víkingur gave the French première of

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

's '' Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?'' with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and performed it with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, both with Adams conducting. In the same season, Víkingur was artist-in-residence at the

Konzerthaus Berlin The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated from 1 ...

, with fourteen performances over eleven different projects, playing concertos by Adès,

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Daníel Bjarnason Daníel Bjarnason (born 26 February 1979) is an Icelandic composer and conductor. He has garnered widespread acclaim for his debut album, ''Processions'' (2010), with TimeOut NY writing he "create(s) a sound that comes eerily close to defining ...

, and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, two solo recitals, and chamber programmes with

Martin Fröst Martin Fröst (born 14 December 1970) is a Swedish clarinetist and conductor. As a clarinetist, he performs internationally and is considered one of the most renowned instrumental soloists ever. He is the first clarinetist to be awarded ...

and Florian Boesch. Víkingur has premiered six piano concertos by Icelandic composers—including ,

Haukur Tómasson Haukur Tómasson (born 9 January 1960) is an Icelandic composer. He has a master's degree from the University of California, San Diego. He has also attended the Reykjavík College of Music, the Hochschule für Musik Köln, Cologne University for ...

, and —as well as solo and chamber works by Atli Ingólfsson, Mark Simpson, and

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. Turnage was the eldest of three children. His parents were lov ...

. He has taken part in collaborative performances with

(in Reykjavík, Gothenburg, and London) and

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

, the latter on the television programme ''Átta raddir'', produced by Jónas Sen for

RÚV Ríkisútvarpið (, ; abbr. RÚV ) is Iceland's national public broadcasting, public-service broadcasting organization. Founded in 1930, it operates from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional centres around the count ...

, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. Víkingur is currently

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

at London's

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

and opened the classical season in September 2022 with

and

. In 2023, Víkingur began a world tour to play one single work,

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Goldberg Variations The ''Goldberg Variations'' (), BWV 988, is a musical composition for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of thirty variations. First published in 1741, it is named after Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, who may ...

, 88 times. His recording of the performance was released by Deutsche Grammophon on 6 October 2023.

Recordings

Víkingur has released three albums on his own record label, Dirrindí: * 2009 – ''Debut'', featuring

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

's 7 Fantasies Op. 116 and 16 Waltzes as well as

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Eroica Variations The Variations and Fugue for Piano in E major, Op. 35 are a set of fifteen variations (plus three "bonus" variations) for solo piano composed by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1802. They are commonly referred to as the ''Eroica Variations'' because a ...

. * 2011 – ''Chopin-Bach'', featuring Chopin's preludes and two of

partitas Partita (also ''partie'', ''partia'', ''parthia'', or ''parthie'') closely resemble the dance suites of the Baroque Period (and are often used synonymously with suites) with the addition of a prelude movement at the beginning of each partita. I ...

. * 2012 – ''Winterreise'', featuring

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert (Schubert Thematic Catalogue, D. 911, published as Opus number, Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 Poetry, poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the ...

with Icelandic operatic bass singer Kristinn Sigmundsson (CD and DVD), which won Classical Album of the Year at the 2012

Icelandic Music Awards The Icelandic Music Awards () 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 Félag íslenskra hljómlistarmanna ...

In 2016, Víkingur signed an exclusive recording contract with

. * 2017 – ''Philip Glass – Piano Works'', featuring

's ''Études'', "Opening" from ''Glassworks'', and a rework of ''Glassworks'' by Christian Badzura * 2018 – ''Johann Sebastian Bach'', featuring Bach's works for keyboard solo. The album won multiple awards, including

's Album of the Year * 2020 – ''

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

•

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera a ...

'' * 2021 – ''Reflections'' featuring Hania Rani, Balmorhea, and Hugar and Helgi Jonsson * 2021 – ''

& Contemporaries'' * 2022 –
From Afar
' * 2023 –
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
' Víkingur also recorded the soundtrack of '' Darkest Hour'', a film directed by

Joe Wright Joseph Wright (born 25 August 1972) is an English film director. His motion pictures include the period drama adaptations '' Pride & Prejudice'' (2005), ''Atonement'' (2007), '' Anna Karenina'' (2012), and '' Cyrano'' (2021), the action thrill ...

, and released ''Bach Reworks'', featuring six 'remixed' works by J. S. Bach from the likes of Ben Frost, Peter Gregson,

Valgeir Sigurðsson Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an Icelandic record producer, 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 recordin ...

, as well as Víkingur himself.

Awards

* 2019 – ''Gramophone'' magazine Artist of the Year * 2019 – ''

'' Recording of the Year for ''Johann Sebastian Bach'' * 2019 – ''BBC Music Magazine'' Instrumental Album of the Year for ''Johann Sebastian Bach'' * 2019 – Opus Klassik Piano Recital Album of the Year for ''Johann Sebastian Bach'' * 2019 – '' ''Limelight'' magazine International Artist of the Year * 2020 – Opus Klassik Solo for ''Debussy Rameau'' * 2022 –

in the Music category * 2023 – CoScan Nordic Person of the Year * 2025 –

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for ''J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations''

Broadcasting

Víkingur has hosted two television series about classical music. Broadcast on

, they were well received by critics. He has also written and hosted radio programmes for

Rás 1 Rás 1 (; ''Channel 1'') is an Icelandic radio station belonging to and operated by Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV), Iceland's national public service broadcaster. Broadcast throughout Iceland on FM (92.4 and 93.5 MHz in Reykjavík), via DTV rad ...

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

, and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's Front Row.

Festivals

In 2012, Víkingur founded Reykjavík Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music festival held in

, Reykjavík. The festival won Musical Event of the Year at the 2012 Icelandic Music Awards, along with a special prize for innovation. In 2015, the pianist succeeded

as the artistic director of Sweden's Vinterfest. At the 2014 Transart Festival in Bolzano, Italy, Víkingur collaborated with Swiss artist

Roman Signer Roman Signer (born 1938 in Appenzell, Switzerland) is an artist who works in sculpture, art installation, photography, and video. Early life and career Signer started his career as an artist at the age of 28, after working various jobs such as an ...

in an event titled ''Vers la Flamme – Ein Konzert mit Störung''. Víkingur performed

Alexander Scriabin Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, scientific transliteration: ''Aleksandr Nikolaevič Skrjabin''; also transliterated variously as Skriabin, Skryabin, and (in French) Scriabine. The composer himselused the French spelling "Scriabine" which was a ...

's ''

Vers la flamme __NOTOC__ ''Vers la flamme'' (''Toward the flame''), Op. 72, is one of Alexander Scriabin's last pieces for piano, written in 1914. The main motif of the piece consists of descending half steps or whole steps interspersed with impressionistic re ...

'' on a floating stage on Lake Vernago with a helicopter hovering over him.

Personal life

Víkingur has both

absolute pitch Absolute pitch (AP), often called perfect pitch, is the ability to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. AP may be demonstrated using linguistic labelling ("naming" a note), associating mental image ...

and

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

, whereby he associates keys with colors. For example, he reportedly associates F minor with blue, A major with yellow, and B major with purple.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olafsson Vikingur 1984 births Living people Vikingur Olafsson Vikingur Olafsson Deutsche Grammophon artists 21st-century pianists Juilliard School alumni 21st-century classical pianists Vikingur Olafsson Vikingur Olafsson