Siggi String Quartet opens Dark Music Days Festival with Shostakovich String Quartet nr. 15, the one played opening the very first Festival Jan. 25th 1980. Composer Atli Heimir Sveinsson brought the score from Russia at the time. His fifth String Quartet will be heard here for the first time. Another pieces are the premiere of Haukur T\u00f3masson new Quartet and Moonbow of Gunnar Andreas Kristinsson. Moonbow will be performed for the first time in Iceland.<\/p>\n
Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartet no. 15 op. 144, Atli Heimir Sveinsson: String Quartet no. 5, Haukur T\u00f3masson: New piece – WP, Gunnar Andreas Kristinsson: Moonbow<\/p>\n
Siggi String Quartet was founded in 2012 around UNM, Ung Nordisk Musik held in Reykjav\u00edk that year. Since then the Quartet has played several of Beethovens String Quartets and premiered a large number of new compositions written for the ensemble. Members of Siggi are all active soloists in the Icelandic scene and play in ISO and Reykjav\u00edk Chamber Orchestra. The debut album South of the Circle was out in Spring 2019 on label Sono Luminus and has received great reviews in Gramophone, San Francisco Chronicle and A Closer Listen to name a few. Siggi String Quartet has played Morton Feldman’s 5 hour long Quartet at Mengi Reykjav\u00edk and played J\u00f3n Leifs and more on new instruments by luthier J\u00f3n Marin\u00f3 J\u00f3nsson in Reykjav\u00edk Arts Festival. Recent performances include Kaija Saariaho, Sofia Gubaidulina, Bach and Webern as well as pieces by Dan\u00edel Bjarnason, Mamiko D\u00eds Ragnarsd\u00f3ttir and Una Sveinbjarnard\u00f3ttir, violinist of Siggi. The ensemble has given premiere of two Atli Heimir Sveinsson Quartets and two Quartets of Haukur T\u00f3masson in the past and performs Shostakovich regularly. The quartet is Una Sveinbjarnard\u00f3ttir and Helga \u00de\u00f3ra Bj\u00f6rgvinsd\u00f3ttir violins, \u00de\u00f3runn \u00d3sk Marin\u00f3sd\u00f3ttir viola and Sigur\u00f0ur Bjarki Gunnarsson cello.
\nSiggi was awarded Performer of the Year 2018 in the Iceland Music Awards.<\/p>\n