Concert of the Icelandic church choir Langholtskirkja on 3 June at the Minoritenchurch in Vienna
On 3 June the church choir Langholtskirkja will sing at 8 p.m. at the Minoritenchurch in Vienna. The choir was founded 1953 and has been active in this form since 1973. Among the most famous works of the choir are the "St. John's passion", the "Christmas oratorium" of Bach, the "Petite Messe solenelle" of Rossini, "A German requiem" of Brahms, "Messias" of Händel, "Messe solenelle" of Beethoven, "The creation" and masses of Haydn, the "Requiem" and masses of Mozart, as well as "Les noces" of Stravinski. Regularly also new Icelandic works are performed. The concert tours of the choir lead among others to the Nordic countries, to Central and South Europe, Israel where "Messias" of Händel was performed, to Canada, the USA and England, where the choir performed the h-minor mass of Bach together with the English chamber orchestra at the Barbican concert hall.
The choir has released several records and CDs, among others "Land mins födur" (land of my father), "An Anthology of Icelandic Choir Music" (BIS in Sweden), the "St. John's passion" of Bach, "Barn er oss fćtt" (Christ-child is born) and "Island er lýdveldi" (Iceland is a democracy).
In the year 2003 the choir performed for the first time the mass of Gudbrandur, which was composed by Hildigunnur Rúnarsdóttir on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the choir.
Conductor: Jón Stefánsson
after finishing his exam as cantor and organist he completed his studies at the music highschools in Munich and Vienna. Since 1964 he has worked as main organist and choir-master at Langholtskirkja church. Besides conducting several choirs he was guest conductor at the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and conducted several operas at the Icelandic Opera. Furthermore, Jón Stefánsson founded in 1991 the youth choir Gradualekór Langholtskirkju and in 2000 the girls' choir Graduale Nobili, which both have won important music awards at international competitions.
Soloist: Ólöf Kolbrún Hardardóttir
started to sing with 14 years in the church choir Langholtskirkja and has been playing several important parts within the choir since then, e.g. as choir member, chairwoman, voice trainer and main soloist. After her final exam at the Icelandic music school "Tónlistarskóli Kópavogs" she continued her musical studies among others in Germany, Austria and Italy. Ólöf Kolbrún Hardardóttir has given concerts in Iceland, Germany, Austria, in the Nordic countries and the USA.
