Umbra has some wonderful projects coming up in 2019 and we are deeply grateful to have received the Artists’ salary from the Icelandic government this year to help us carry out these projects.
In February we recorded Blóðhófnir (Bloodhoof) by composer Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir at the wonderful Masterkey Studios in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland. This is an immense project that we have been working on for a while but we are slowly but surely drawing closer to the end of it! Beautiful and haunting music that we can’t wait for others to hear.
In March we will perform at a brand new concert series in Garðabær municipality and in June we have a big project coming up. On the 4th of June we will be performing at the 15th edition of the Festival of Sacred Arts in Hallgrímskirkja. There we will perform Llibre Vermell or “The Red Book” in its entirety along with Icelandic material from the early middle ages. We will extend the family for this project and collaborate with some amazing performers, namely Eggert Pálsson and Kristófer Rodriguez on percussion, Þórdís Gerður Jónsdóttir on cello, Marina Albero on psalteron and an exciting male choir assembled for the occasion. The concert will be followed by live recordings in collaboration with our favourite recording producer, Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir. We simply can’t wait.
During the summer months we will be heading to the country side, to the north and west of Iceland, with an all new Scandinavian program that we will continue to develop towards the end of the year.
We have even more exciting fall and and winter projects, yet to be announced, so stay tuned!