Gudrún Ólafsdóttir
Representation: UK
The Icelandic mezzo-soprano Gudrún Ólafsdóttir studied at the Reykjavík College of Music under Rut Magnússon, before moving to London, where she completed a Master of Music degree in 2001 and the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2003, studying with Professor Laura Sarti. She then furthered her studies with mezzo-soprano Alicia Nafé in Madrid.
Gudrún has won numerous prizes for her singing, including The Miriam Licette Scholarship at The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Schubert Lieder Prize at the Guildhall, a Madeline Finden Memorial Trust Award at the Royal Academy of Music, third prize in Concorso Vocale Internazionale di Musica Sacra, Rome, the Prize for the Best Performer of Joaquín Rodrigo’s Music in the Joaquín Rodrigo Competition in Madrid, the Lieder Prize in the Zamora International Singing Competition in Spain and the Kathleen Ferrier Song Prize at the Wigmore Hall in London.
She has sung the title rôle in Montsalvatge’s opera El Gato con Botas (Puss in Boots) for Teatro Real in Madrid. In the U.K. she has been Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte and Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera à la Carte, Arbace in Arne’s Artaxerxes for the Classical Opera Company and at the Guildhall she sang Joacim in Handel's Susanna, Magdelone in Nielsen’s Maskarade and Lazuli in Chabrier's L'étoile. In Iceland she has performed Prince Orlowsky in J. Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito and the title rôle in Bizet’s Carmen.
Gudrún has a special affinity to art songs and performs regularly in recital. She has offered world premières of new works by composers of different nationalities, who have composed their works especially for her. She has given recitals in Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Faroe Islands, Malta, Italy, the U.K., Bulgaria, Belgium, Holland and Spain. She has performed with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Ensemble, the Ísafold Chamber Orchestra, the orchestra Schola Camerata, Sonor Ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra of La Mancha, Nordic Affect, La Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid and the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London, with such conductors as Rumon Gamba, Franck Ollu, Daniel Bjarnason, Luis Aguirre, Miguel Roa and Nicolae Moldoveanu.
Gudrún’s first solo album, which includes the song cycles Frauenliebe und -Leben by Schumann and Haugtussa by Grieg with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, was released in October 2006 (www.12tonar.is). Other recordings include the oratorio Unto us by John Speight with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, a selection of songs by Sigvaldi Kaldalóns with pianist Jónas Ingimundarson (www.smekkleysa.com) Apocrypha by Hugi Gudmundsson and various recordings for The Icelandic National Radio, The Icelandic National Television, BBC Radio 3, The Spanish National Television and The Spanish National Radio, Radio Clásica.
Her upcoming engagements include concerts in Spain, Belgium, Iceland, Korea, China and the U.K., and the role of the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss for the Icelandic Opera conducted by Kurt Kopecky.
Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact Hazard Chase to ensure that you receive the most up to date version.
Email: Rosie Goddard
