GROWL POWER
A CONCERT
Björg Brjánsdóttir flutist
performs works by Bára Gísladóttir
GROWL POWER is the title of one of Bára Gísladóttir's compositions and also the title of the first solo album by flutist Björg Brjánsdóttir, where she performs the piece along with three other works by Bára. All of the pieces were written especially for Björg.
GROWL POWER is also the name of a concert program where Björg performs all the pieces from the album in concert. The pieces are performed in their entirety, without a break.
The project began with a concert at the 2024 Dark Music Days, where Björg performed the repertoire in the Norðurljós in Harpa on the opening night of the festival. The concert received unanimous praise and the repertoire has a place on the agenda of music festivals, concert series or as independent concerts at ambitious music venues. Opportunities are primarily being considered in continental Europe, the Nordic countries and the UK, but also in Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
The concert is relatively simple in its set-up and the technical requirements can be adapted to the circumstances, to a certain extent. The repertoire is therefore very suitable for performance on a variety of occasions.
Simultaneously with the concerts at Myrkir Músíkdagur, the works were released on streaming platforms, but they had previously been recorded under the direction of Bergur Þórðarson. Following the concerts, production began on a vinyl album that will be released in the fall of 2025. The vinyl album will be released in 200 copies, along with 100 CDs. The album will then be re-released simultaneously on all major streaming platforms.
From the premiere of GROWL POWER at Dark Music Days 2024
The Performer
Flutist Björg Brjánsdóttir works with various groups and ensembles across musical genres as well as composing her own music, and in recent years she has focused on collaborating with various composers and performing new solo works for flute.
Björg was nominated as Performer of the Year for the 2022 Icelandic Music Awards and has performed as a soloist with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Elja Chamber Orchestra, the Icelandic Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Flute Choir, among others. She plays with Caput Ensemble and has performed in numerous orchestral projects, mostly in Germany, Norway and Iceland. Björg belongs to the flute septet viibra, which has worked with Björk Guðmundsdóttir since 2016 and travels with her around the world to perform her musical show, Cornucopia.
Björg graduated from the Norwegian Academy of Music in the spring of 2017 as a soloist and has also studied flute at the Hanover Academy of Music, the Munich Academy of Music and the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
GROWL POWER is Björg's first album. A second album is forthcoming with works by six different composers.
Programme
Works by Bára Gísladóttir
GROWL POWER (2022)
for bass flute and electronics
Ever Out After Dark (or blue lady in boring city) (2022)
for alto flute and electronics
GLÓÐ|STELPA (2022)
for flute
Stars with Shadows (on vast void and whatnot) (2022)
for piccolo flute
The composer
Bára Gísladóttir is a composer and double bass player based in Copenhagen. She completed her bachelor's degree in composition from the Iceland Academy of the Arts under the guidance of Hróðmar I. Sigurbjörnsson and Þuríður Jónsdóttir. She then went to Milan for postgraduate studies at the Verdi Academy with Gabriele Manca. From there she went to Copenhagen where she completed her master's degree and soloist diploma (E. Advanced Postgraduate Diploma) from the Royal Danish Academy of Music under the guidance of Jeppe Just Christensen and Niels Rosing-Schow.
Bára's music has been performed by ensembles and soloists such as Adapter, Athelas, Copenhagen Phil, Collectif Love Music, Distractfold, Duo Harpverk, Elektra, Elja, InterContemporain, Jack Adler-McKean, Marco Fusi, Mimitabu, New Babylon, Nordic Affect, recherche, Riot Ensemble, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, Staatsorchester Hannover, Sigga String Quartet, TAK, Danish Radio Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, Polish Radio Orchestra, Danish Radio Choir and WDR Sinfonieorchester. Her works have been selected for festivals such as the International Composers' Congress, Ars Electronica, MaerzMusik, Myrka músíkdaga, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Festival Musica, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, KLANG Festival, Nordic Music Days, SPOR Festival, TRANSIT Festival, Warsaw Autumn and Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik.
In 2024, Bára received the Ernst von Siemens Composers' Prize. She has also received the Carl Nielsen Talent Prize, the Gladsaxe Music Prize, the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize and the Grapevine Music Prize. She has been nominated for the Carl Prisen, the Icelandic Music Prize, the Kraumur Prize, the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and the Nordic Council Music Prize. In 2021, Bára, one of three composers/authors, received a three-year fellowship from the Danish government for her compositional work. She was recently awarded the Carl Nielsen Honorary Prize.
Bára has released a number of albums, most recently SILVA (Sono Luminus/ESP disc). Bára often plays her own music but is also a double bass player in the Elja Chamber Orchestra. She has also appeared as a soloist with a number of ensembles, including the Copenhagen Phil and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in a performance of her own double bass concerto, Hringla. In recent years, Bára has moved towards interdisciplinary productions, where she has mostly worked with German director and choreographer Ben J. Riepe.
