A flute project that resulted in the album Herberging.
Selected performances:
The Flute Show. Mengi, Reykjavík. January 23, 2016.
The Flute Show 2.0. Mengi, Reykjavík. August 5, 2016.
The Flute Show 2.0. Art Share L.A. August 12, 2016.
Floating (excerpt) Cycle Music & Art Festival. Salurinn, Kópavogur. October 28, 2016.
On Cycle Music & Art Festival on Frieze.com (Floating mentioning)
The recently discovered instrument called Lokkur can be traced to Icelandic settlers in the United States of America in the early decades of the 20th century. Lokkur — which can be described as a hybrid of the Icelandic musical instrument Langspil and a spinning wheel — was considered to be “a woman’s instrument”, perhaps due to its similarities to the latter.
In the summer of 2015, the Lokkur was exhibited for the first time at Árbær Museum. The exhibition was a part of Reykjavík Arts Festival.
Other selected performances:
Hugarflug -- A Conference on research within the Arts hosted by the Iceland Academy of the Arts. March, 2017. Variations II by John Cage -- with Lilja Ásmundsdóttir playing Hulda. View an excerpt here.
Skálholt Summer Concerts, July 2016. Works by Berglind, Þórunn Gréta Sigurðardóttir and Karólína Eiríksdóttir.
The 2016 Nordic Music Days. Concerto for Lokkur and Orchestra by Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson. Performed by Berglind and Caput Ensemble. Listen here.
The 2016 Nordic Music Days. A symposium on the origin of Lokkur including performances of works by Karólína Eiríksdóttir and Þórunn Gréta Sigurðardóttir. Participants: Bryndís Björgvinsdóttir folklorist, Karólína Eiríksdóttir composer, Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson composer, Berglind Tómasdóttir musician and Hallveig Rúnarsdóttir singer. Moderator: Elísabet Indra Ragnarsdóttir musicologist.
A review on NMD from Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.
Soffía Sæmundsdóttir
Woodcut, 2015.
The Caravan Concerts (Berglind Tómasdóttir, 2013)
In August of 2011 Berglind Tómasdóttir a.k.a. Rockriver Mary gave concerts inside a caravan in Iceland. In this documentary we follow Rockriver Mary on her adventures in rural Iceland.
Selected screenings/talks:
UCSD -- CPMC (screening). 2013.
Skjaldborg Film Festival 2013.
Hugarflug. Conference hosted by the Iceland Academy of the Arts. 2014.
Arts and Audiences. An internordic conference. Harpa, Reykjavík. 2014.
The Dark Music Days Piece was commissioned by The Dark Music Days, and performed during the opening of the festival in 2015. The performance was a live radio broadcast performed in front of an audience in Harpa. The event was an open invitation to participate in a collaborative composition written during the first half-hour of the opening reception followed with a performance of the piece. During the festival, the score was exhibited in Harpa.
A talent competition featured at 2016 Reykjavík Arts Festial.
Do you love genuine talent? New music? And are you a fan of talent shows as well? Then you’re in the right place.
In Jaðarber Got hæfileikar the amazing musiciansTinna Þorsteinsdóttir, Grímur Helgason and Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir will expose their true talent and compete amongst themselves. Throughout the competition they will show their skills by performing tender melodies, participating in ensemble playing and doing neat cover versions. Clearly, the best one will win, or more precisely: which one of them is the most holistic musician?
The judges are all amazing people: Atli Ingólfsson, Halla Oddný Magnúsdóttir and Elísabet Indra Ragnarsdóttir. Also, you dear reader, can influence the results of the competition by showing up.
Our host is the one and only Guðmundur Felixson.
The performance was created within YRKJA, a career development program for new composers managed by the Iceland Music Information Centre and sponsored by the City of Reykjavík and The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.
Author: Berglind María Tómasdóttir
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Elskarðu sanna hæfileika? Nýja og krassandi tónlist? Og fílar líka keppnir? Þá er Jaðarber Got hæfileikar eitthvað fyrir þig.
Í hæfileika- og tónlistarkeppninni Jaðarber Got hæfileikar stíga hæfileikabúntin Tinna Þorsteinsdóttir, Grímur Helgason og Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir á stokk og etja kappi hvert við annað. Keppendur munu spreyta sig á ólíkum tjáningarleiðum tónlistar, allt frá færni í því að galdra fram viðkvæmnisleg sóló til krassandi samleiks og með því að töfra fram heillandi ábreiðu á dægurlagi. Sá besti eða sú besta mun klárlega vinna; hvert þeirra er besti heildstæði tónlistarmaðurinn?
Dómarar eru ekki af verri endanum enda allt þunga- vigtarmenn á sviði tónlistar: Atli Ingólfsson, Halla Oddný Magnúsdóttir og Elísabet Indra Ragnarsdóttir. Einnig getur þú, lesandi góður, haft áhrif á niðurstöðu keppninnar með því að mæta.
Kynnir er hinn eini sanni Guðmundur Felixson.
Verkið er unnið undir formerkjum YRKJU, starfsþróunar- verkefnis Tónverkamiðstöðvar fyrir ný tónskáld, og nýtur styrkja frá Reykjavíkurborg og Tónskáldasjóði RÚV.
Höfundur: Berglind María Tómasdóttir
In the Fall of 2014 I practiced Cassandra's Dream Song by Brian Ferneyhough in the open space of Harpa Concert Hall, an hour every day for a month. Later I released the recordings from all the hours spent practicing Ferneyhough in Harpa.
Listen on Soundcloud.
The Darmstadt Piece was born out of initiated at the 47th International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt in August 2014. The piece was a part of a workshop led by Peter Ablinger entitled Composition Beyond Music at the 47th International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt in August 2014.
Selected performances:
The piece has been exhibited/performed twice; at Orangerie, Darmstadt on August 10, and at Mengi, Reykjavík on November 20.
See photos from the events at Darmstadt (photos: Bonnie Lander) and Mengi, Reykjavík (photos: Hrafn Ásgeirsson) below.
Below is the original Darmstadt Piece.
The piece consists of dozens of miniatures by many people, including Peter Ablinger, Lars Petter Hagen, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Martin Hiendl, Rachel Beetz, Bonnie Lander, Ken Ueno and Wojtek Blecharz.
Excerpts from I'm an Island by Berglind Tómasdóttir. The premiere took place February 24, 2012 at UCSD, CPMC Theatre. The show included a video done in collaboration with Frankie Martin entitled Flute and Red Nails. Furthermore, a new instrument had its premiere that night -- an instrument built by Joe Mariglio and Berglind.
Performers: Berglind Maria Tómasdóttir, flute, voice, hrokkur, Adam Goodwin, bass, Leah Bowden, drums, Phil Skaller, keyboard. Filmed by Frankie Martin.
Other performances:
Harpa Concert Hall - Reykjavík Arts Festival, Reykjavík. June 2, 2012.
Experimental Sound Studio - Chicago. July 29, 2012.
Photo: Sæmundur Ari Halldórsson
Collage: Berglind Tómasdóttir
