Daníel Bjarnason
composer
Daníel Bjarnason is one of Iceland’s foremost musical voices today, in demand as a conductor, composer, and programmer. He is Artist in Collaboration with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, an appointment that follows his tenures as Principal Guest Conductor and Artist in Residence.
His recent highlights as a guest conductor include debuts with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, and Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra alongside his regular presence in Reykjavík with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
In Europe, Bjarnason has conducted orchestras such as the Gothenburg Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Aalborg Symfoniorkester, and Turun Filharmoninen Orkesteri. In North America, he has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Toronto Symphony orchestras, among others, and with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in Japan.
With his busy composing schedule alongside his conducting commitments, many of Bjarnason’s works are taken up beyond their premieres and regularly programmed around the world. This season sees tonight’s world premiere of Hands on Me with the LA Phil New Music Group, as well as the premiere of the complete trilogy for orchestra I Want to Be Alive with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Bjarnason has also written the score for an animated film, The Last Whale Singer, to be released in 2026. In 2023/24, the Gothenburg Symphony premiered his work for orchestra A Fragile Hope. In 2021/22, his concerto for piano and orchestra FEAST, written for Víkingur Ólafsson, was performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall by Ólafsson and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Bjarnason maintains a close connection with the LA Phil, having written From Space I Saw Earth for Gustavo Dudamel, Zubin Mehta, and Esa-Pekka Salonen to conduct together at its Centennial Birthday Celebration Concert and Gala in 2019. In 2017, Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto premiered with the LA Phil and soloist Pekka Kuusisto at the Hollywood Bowl in a co-commission with the Iceland Symphony. That same year, Bjarnason curated the LA Phil’s Reykjavík Festival, an eclectic and multidisciplinary 17-day event in which he featured as curator, conductor, and composer.
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