“The Symphony Orchestra of East Iceland held their first ever concert in the East Iceland Music Centre in Eskifjörður on Saturday, RÚV reports,” writes Jelena Ćirić in Tuesday’s (12/4) Iceland Review (Reykjavík). “The concert was in celebration of Iceland’s centennial anniversary of sovereignty and included the participation of men’s choirs from the region. The new ensemble is an exciting development for the region, giving its many talented local musicians a new platform for performance. ‘It’s really unbelievable that we’re seeing this project come together,’ remarked Karna Sigurðardóttir, director of the East Iceland Music Centre, adding that the foundation of the group was a grassroots initiative. ‘We have 29 instrumentalists on the stage who are from East Iceland, then 19 who come from the North and South, and the conductor. We have truly great musicians here in the east and it’s really important for them to have the opportunity to come together and play together in a symphony orchestra. And now we can perform symphonic pieces for Eastfjords residents, so it’s a very important day in East Iceland music history.’ The group’s first performance was conducted by Zigmas Genutis and featured concertmaster Zsuzsanna Bitay.”
Posted December 10, 2018
