Program Additions Include:

Opening Night: Made in Iceland - Live on April 7
with múm, amiina, Skúli Sverrisson & Ólöf Arnalds,
dj. flugvél og geimskip (Airplane & Spaceship), and JFDR

Festival to include visual art by
Shoplifter, Siggi Eggertsson and Xárene Eskandar

Los Angeles, CA (January 17, 2017) - The Los Angeles Philharmonic announces additional details for Reykjavík Festival, taking place April 1 to 17 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Opening Night: Made in Iceland - Live on Friday, April 7 will feature established and emerging acts from the flourishing Icelandic music scene, including múm (their only U.S. appearance this year), amiina, Skúli Sverrisson & Ólöf Arnalds, dj. flugvél og geimskip (Airplane & Spaceship), and JFDR. Reykjavík Festival will also feature visual art from Icelandic artists Shoplifter (Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir) and Siggi Eggertsson, as well as the U.S. premiere of the film "Driving at the speed of the Nordic sun" (by Xárene Eskandar with music by Daníel Bjarnason).

Formed in 1997 by Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Smárason, múm is a 7-piece musical group known for its exploratory music that incorporates electronic sounds, soft vocals, glitch beats, sampling, and use of a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments. Described as "Iceland's leading electronic band" by Rolling Stone, múm has released six albums, with 2013's Smilewound containing the track "Whistle" with Kylie Minogue, featured in the film Jack & Diane. múm is also known for their contributions to film and theater music, including their own soundtracks to two classic films, Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin and Robert Siodmak's Menschen am Sonntag, which led to live performances of the scores at film festivals around the world. In addition, múm has collaborated with artists including the Kronos Quartet, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hauschka and the MDR Sinfonieorchester in Leipzig.

Originally formed as a classical string quartet at Reykjavík College of Music in the late 1990s, amiina went on to perform diverse genres of music with various bands in Reykjavík. In 1999, they became the string section for Sigur Rós, performing with the band on tour and on multiple album recordings over the next decade. 2007 saw the release of amiina's debut album Kurr, featuring an array of instruments - including musical saws, kalimbas and music boxes - for what The Guardian described as "in a strange, powerful place between sophistication and innocence." The group's latest album Fantômas was originally composed as a live score to the eponymous 1913 silent masterpiece directed by Louis Feuillade. Fantômas features imaginative usage of violin, cello, drums, percussion, metallophone, table harp, ukulele and electronics to create varied sonic textures and contrasts between haunting and heavenly. This performance will take place in BP Hall and include members María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir, Magnús Trygvason Eliassen and Guðmundur Vignir Karlsson (aka Kippi Kaninus).

An established bass player, composer and producer, Skúli Sverrisson has worked with artists including Laurie Anderson (as her music director), Wadada Leo Smith, Lou Reed, Blonde Redhead, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jóhann Jóhannsson and many more. Ólöf Arnalds is a singer and multi-instrumentalist - classically trained on the violin and viola - whose fourth solo record Palme (produced by Skúli Sverrisson and Gunnar Tynes) was released in 2014 on Björk's label, One Little Indian. Sverrisson and Arnalds' collaboration began in the early 2000s when Arnalds took an active part in the making of Sverrisson's critically acclaimed album Sería, and they have gone on to become the founders of Mengi, a performance venue for experimental music and arts in downtown Reykjavík. Skúli Sverrisson & Ólöf Arnalds will be joined for this performance by collaborator Ólafur Björn Ólafsson, a composer, percussionist and keyboard player who has also worked with the likes of Sigur Rós, Jónsi, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Emiliana Torrini, Valgeir Sigurðsson, and múm. His debut album Innhverfi, a play on the Icelandic words for "suburbs" and "introvert," was released in 2014 under the name Óbó.

dj. flugvél og geimskip (Airplane & Spaceship) is the one-person orchestra of Steinunn Harðardóttir. dj. flugvél og geimskip's live performances combine music, poetry and theater for what she describes as "horror electronic music from outer space," utilizing keyboards, drum machines and vocals. Her latest album Glamúr í geimnum featured dance beats and melodies influenced by music from India and Syria.

JFDR is the latest project from Jófríður Ákadóttir, who draws from classical, folk and electronic music to create a blend of cyclical guitar parts with soft, minimal soundscapes, and poetic wanderings full of rich imagery and subtle emotions. Her first full-length album Brazil, co-produced with multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, is set for release this year.

Reykjavík Festival will also feature three nights of performances from Sigur Rós performing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on April 13, 14 and 15, as previously announced. Orchestral arrangements are by Daníel Bjarnarson, Dan Deacon, David Lang, Missy Mazzoli, Anna Meredith, Nico Muhly, Owen Pallett,and Páll Ragnar Palsson.

Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, aka Shoplifter, is known for her work exploring the use and symbolic nature of hair, with the theme of vanity as a connecting thread. Influenced by the playfulness found in folk art, naïvism, and handicraft, she uses traditional handcraft techniques like knitting, weaving, and braiding to create new forms of textiles, while referring to established methods in art. Shoplifter's installation in Walt Disney Concert Hall's BP Hall will be on display for the duration of Reykjavík Festival.

Contributing to the festival's visual design is Berlin-based and Iceland-born artist Siggi Eggertsson. Eggertsson, who studied graphic design at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, is known for his award-winning style combining geometric shapes and color.

Driving at the speed of the Nordic sun, by Xárene Eskandar with music by Daníel Bjarnason, is a four-hour single-take film shifting bodily self-perception from earthly to galactic. It is a site-specific film only possible in one location in Iceland, during a short window of time. The film will screen continuously in W.M. Keck Foundation Children's Amphitheatre throughout the Festival.

A very special thank you to our partner, Iceland Music Export, and to WOW air for their support.

###

PROGRAM DETAILS:

Friday, April 7, 2017
Opening Night: Made in Iceland - Live

BP Hall, 7PM
amiina
* Installation by Shoplifter

WDCH Stage Performances, 7:30PM
múm
Skúli Sverrisson & Ólöf Arnalds
dj. flugvél og geimskip (Airplane & Spaceship)
JFDR

W.M. Keck Foundation Children's Amphitheatre
*Driving at the speed of the Nordic sun film screening (film by Xarene Eskander, music by Daníel Bjarnason) (continuous screenings)

Additional artists and activations as part of this Opening Night to be announced.

* Will remain throughout Reykjavík Festival

All tickets for Opening Night: Reykjavík Festival are $25

Saturday, April 1 & Saturday, April 8, 11AM 
Toyota Symphonies for Youth
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Daníel Bjarnason, conductor
Maximus Musicus Visits Los Angeles 

Including works by Baldvinsson, Leifs, Thorvaldsdottir, Tomasson, Vithar, Asgeirsson, Guldmundsson, Grimsdottir, Bjarnason, Olafsdottir

Tuesday, April 11, 8PM
Green Umbrella
LA Phil New Music Group
Daníel Bjarnason, conductor
Saeunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello
Schola Cantorum Reykjavík

Askell MASSON Frum
Daníel BJARNASON Ek ken die nag
Þuríður JONSDÓTTIR Cylinder 49 (world premiere, LA Phil commission)
Schola Cantorum Reykjavík
Atli INGOLFSSON Object of Terror
Páll Ragnar PÁLSSON Quake (U.S. premiere, LA Phil commission)
Saeunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello

Thursday, April 13, 8PM
Friday, April 14, 8PM
Saturday, April 15, 8PM
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Sigur Rós
Schola Cantorum Reykjavík
Vikingur Ólafsson, piano (April 14)
James McVinnie, organ (April 15)

Each of these three programs is preceded by a Nordic Affect chamber music program. 

Program 1 (April 13):
Schola Cantorum Reykjavík (a cappella choral works TBA)
Hlynur Aðils VILMARSSON BD (U.S. premiere)
Daníel BJARNASON Emergence (U.S. premiere)
Sigur Rós works

Daníel Bjarnason's Violin Concerto for Pekka Kuusisto (LA Phil commission) is postponed to Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at the Hollywood Bowl in a performance to be conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

Program 2 (April 14):
Schola Cantorum Reykjavík (a cappella choral works TBA)
Anna ÞORVALDSDÓTTIR Airiality
Haukur TÓMASSON Piano Concerto No. 2 (LA Phil co-commission; U.S. premiere)
Vikingur Ólafsson, piano
Sigur Rós works

Program 3 (April 15):
Schola Cantorum (a cappella choral works TBA)
Maria Huld Markan SIGFÚSDÓTTIR Aequora
LEIFS Organ Concerto
James McVinnie, organ
Sigur Rós works 

Monday, April 17, 8PM
World Music
Jóhann Jóhannsson with American Contemporary Music Ensemble
Bedroom Community's Whale Watching Tour
featuring Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, and Sam Amidon

Tickets for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2016/17 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall are currently available. To purchase, please visit LAPhil.com or the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office. To order by phone with credit card or for more information, please call 323.850.2000.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, under the vibrant leadership of Music Director & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel, presents an inspiring array of music from all genres - orchestral, chamber and Baroque music, organ and celebrity recitals, new music, jazz, world music and pop - at two of L.A.'s iconic venues, Walt Disney Concert Hall (www.laphil.com) and the Hollywood Bowl (www.HollywoodBowl.com). The LA Phil's season extends from September through June at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and throughout the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. With the preeminent Los Angeles Philharmonic at the foundation of its offerings, the LA Phil aims to enrich and transform lives through music, with a robust mix of artistic, education and community programs.

###