Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir + Elja

Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir (1993) is an artist, musician, and composer. She finds inspiration in the mundanity of everyday life and often employs durational performance and repetition to lend a new light to her subjects. Her works thrive in interdisciplinary spaces and claim exhibition spaces as their own, using both exhibitions and others’ works as scenography. Theatrical yet resisting the black box, they rupture exhibition spaces and demand immediate attention.

Hildur Elísa holds an MA in operatic performances from Sandberg Instituut, a BA in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts, and a diploma in classical clarinet from the Reykjavík College of Music. Her works have been exhibited and performed in Arti et Amificitiae (NL), Ásmundarsalur (IS), Kjarvalsstaðir (IS), Nordatlantens Brygge (DK), Outvert Art Space (IS), Platform POST (NL), SIGN (NL) and Y Gallery (IS), as well as at Gaudeamus (NL), Nordic Music Days Glasgow (UK), Opera Forward Festival (NL), Platform Nord (NO), Rewire (NL), Tokyo Biennale (JP) and Ung Nordisk Musik.

Elja

Elja consists of young Icelandic classical musicians. All of them have one thing in common: they all studied together in Iceland before going abroad, and most of them now work as soloists or orchestra players around the world. Since the ensemble was founded in 2017, it has established itself among the country’s leading chamber ensembles and has attracted attention for its lively and fresh performances. Over the years, Elja has performed regularly, with the largest concerts usually taking place both in the summer and at the turn of the year, along with smaller chamber concerts in the fall and spring semesters. The concert venues have been diverse, including Harpa, Gamla Bíó, Hof, the Old Potato Warehouses, Iðnó, Tjarnarbíó and Mikligarður in Varmahlíð. Elja has received much praise for her performance and was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards 2019 as Performer of the Year (Groups) in the Classical and Contemporary category.