| Instrument(s): |
Classical guitar; Computer and electronics |
Hugi Gudmundsson was born in Reykjavik in 1977. He studied composition at Reykjavik College of Music with Thorkell Sigurbjornsson and Dr. Ulfar Ingi Haraldsson as teachers. In 2001 he moved to Denmark for further composition studies with Prof. Bent Sorensen, Hans Abrahamsen and Niels Rosing-Schow at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He finished his Masters degree spring 2005. He finshed his second Masters degree (electronic music, Institute of Sonology, Netherlands) spring 2007. His final project from there was named Apocrypha, a piece for baroque instruments, mezzo-soprano and live electronics. It will be released on a CD in 2008.
Gudmundsson has written pieces ranging from solo pieces to orchestra works and his pieces have been performed widely, e.g. in USA, Canada, UK, Japan, France, Germany and all the scandinavian countries.
Gudmundsson has worked with internationally renowned artists such as the Rascher Saxophone Quartet (Adoro Te Devote, premiered Feb. 2005), pianist Rolf Hind (Yasumi, premiered Sept. 2004) and Cantori New York. He is also active as a performer of music with live electronics. He has performed with various musicians at music festivals all over the world, e.g. in Bulgaria, France, Danmark, Iceland, Germany, Norway, USA and Japan.
Among his most important pieces is Adoro te devote which he wrote for the Rascher Saxophone Quartet and Hallgrimskirkja Motet Choir. It was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards 2005 and with that Gudmundsson became the youngest composer ever nominated for the award. The piece has been performed widely, both in Europe and the US. Summer 2006 his piece Eq. IV: Windbells was the only piece which was given honorary mentions in both catagories at the International Rostrum of Composers (IRC 2006) in Paris. The piece was among the three recommended pieces by composers under 30 years of age and among the ten recommended pieces in the general catagory. Later that year the piece was also nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards 2006.
Earlier in 2008 Hugi Gudmundsson was nominated to the prestigious DV Cultural Awards in Iceland for achievments in the field of music. He also recieved the Icelandic Music Award for his piece APOCRYPHA. This was the third time he was nominated to the award.
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Christian Hildebrandt
