Tónleikar: Að brúa haf milli Lettlands og Íslands

You are most welcome to the concert of Icelandic and Latvian contemporary chamber music on 14^th September 2019 hosted by the Nordic House in Reykjavik. 

 Well-known Latvian musician Dzintra Erliha (piano) will be performing compositions by Icelandic composer Snorri Sigfús Birgisson as well as Latvian composers Jānis Ivanovs, Lūcija Garūta, Aivars Kalējs and others. Composer Snorri Sigfús Birgisson will also perform his music for solo piano. Dzintra and Snorri together will perform one of composers compositions for 1-piano 4-hands (Four Songs from the North-East of Iceland).

The project is supported financially by the Nordic Culture Fund and informative support is extended by the Embassy of Latvia to Iceland.

Free admission.

Dr. art. Dzintra Erliha (www.dzintraerliha.com) is a pianist, winner of several international piano competitions in France, Italy, Canada. Currently, she is the guest – lector of Jāzeps Vītols Music Academy in Latvia. She studied at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Professor Arnis Zandmanis’ piano class. In 2013 she received her Doctor of Arts degree with a thesis about the biographical context, style and interpretation of Lūcija Garūta’s chamber music. She is a winner of several international piano competitions, among them a 1st prize at the ROMA-1997 in Italy, 3rd prize at the Ludmila Knezkova-Hussey international piano competition in Canada (1998) and 1st prize in the Nicolai Rubinstein international piano competition in France (1999). Erliha has continued her studies in Canada with the notable Latvian / Canadian pianist Arturs Ozoliņš. She has also participated in international masterclasses with famous professors Lazar Berman, Barry Douglas, Victor Eresko, Igor Lazko, Philippe Giusiano, Birgitta Wollenweber, Zhu Xiao-Mei, Oleg Mantur, Muza Rubackyte, Aldona Dvarionaite and others. She has performed in Latvia as well as Brazil, Australia, USA, Canada, Iceland, France, Finland, Poland, Ukraine and elsewhere. Her CD releases includes: Zvaigznes skatiens / Regard de l’etoile (2008; piano solo music by Lūcija Garūta and Olivier Messiaen); Kvēlot, liesmot, sadegt (2010; decided to L.Garūta`s vocal and instrumental chamber music); Tilts pār jūrām / The Bridge Across The Seas (2010; chamber music by Latvian and Canadian composers; CD is published in Canada); Citādas krāsas / Other Colours (2017; Latvian chamber music for flute and piano (Ilona Meija (flute), Dzintra Erliha (piano)). Her latest CD relase Ar siltu sirdi / Warmhearted (2018) includes Latvian vocal and chamber music; it is recorded together with a world-famous singer, soprano Maija Kovaļevska (www.maijakovalevska.com) and Latvia National Opera singer, bass Krišjānis Norvelis.

Dzintra Erliha is the author of numerous publications: Piano Music of Lūcija Garūta (Riga: Musica Baltica, 80); Lūcija Garūta – Pianist and Interpreter of Her Own Compositions (Music Science Today: The Permanent and the Changeable. I. Daugavpils: Daugavpils University, Saule, 57-73); Hermanis Brauns in Evidences of Contemporaries and Recordings (The 50th anniversary of the department of chamber music of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. Riga: Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, ULMA, 66-72), and many others.

In 2018 Dzintra Erliha has been on the world concert-tour devoted to Latvia’s 100^th anniversary, to mention few places visited with concerts – in Reykjavik, Iceland in March, Australia tour including Sidney, Melbourne and Adelaide in April / May, in Boston, Cleveland, New Jersey, Washington and New York, USA in September/October – both as a soloist and a chamber musician.

In October/November 2019 Dzintra Erliha is invited for several solo concerts in the USA (Cleveland, Philadelphia, Omaha, New York).

Snorri Sigfús Birgisson

The composer and pianist Snorri Sigfús Birgisson studied piano at the Reykjavik College of Music with Hermína Kristjánsson, Jón Nordal, Árni Kristjánsson and composition with Thorkell Sigurbjörnsson. He studied piano with Barry Snyder at the Eastman School of Music, U.S.A. (1974-1975) and composition with Finn Mortensen in Norway where he also studied sonology with Lasse Thoresen and Olav Anton Thommessen (1975-76). Snorri moved to Amsterdam in 1976 where he studied composition for two years with Ton de Leeuw.

Since 1980 Snorri has been living in Reykjavík, Iceland, where he is active as a musician and music teacher. He has composed solo and chamber works, symphonic and choir music. Snorri is also a member of the CAPUT ensemble.