BIO
Hailing from the peripheries of Iceland, Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir has been described by The Quietus as “one of the most exciting and uncompromising new compositional voices in Europe right now.” Positionen has described her music as “deeply material, cold and wildly compelling.”
Through experimental performance practices and innovative forms of notation, Bergrún integrates sound with perceived phenomena and individual interpretations, resulting in mutable, breathing, and living structures. She engineers environments that allow for varying degrees of freedom, eliciting individuality from performers.
In 2026, her composition Intraloper was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. Her works have been commissioned by some of the world’s leading ensembles and festivals/venues, including International Contemporary Ensemble, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, National Sawdust, INA GRM, Yarn/Wire, Nordic Affect, viibra, NeoQuartet, Prototype Festival, Sequences Art Biennal, Tectonics Festival, SPOR Festival, Nordic Music Days, Frequenz Festival, Moers Festival and Klang Festival among others. Other ensembles that have presented Bergrún’s music include the Oslo Philharmonic, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Esbjerg Ensemble, Norrbotten NEO, Avanti Chamber Ensemble, Distractfold, Cikada, KNM Berlin, Decibel and more. Her works have also been featured at festivals and venues such as Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart, ISCM’s World New Music Days, Ultima Festival, Only Connect, Heroines of Sound, Warsaw Autumn, Sound of Stockholm, Borealis and many other events.
Bergrún studied composition at the Iceland University of the Arts and later at Mills College in California, where she was guided by pioneers in experimental and avant-garde music, including Pauline Oliveros and Zeena Parkins. Her debut album, Skinweeper, was released on Smekkleysa Records in 2026. Bergrún currently resides in Reykjavík, Iceland, where she is an associate professor in composition at the Iceland University of the Arts.
PRESS PHOTOS
