Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its primary concert venue is the Harpa Concert Hall. The Iceland Symphony is an autonomous public institution under the auspices of the Icelandic Ministry of Education. Iceland Symphony Orchestra made its home in Háskólabíó (University Cinema) from 1961 to 2011, but moved into the new 1800-seat Harpa Concert Hall in spring 2011. The orchestra gives approximately sixty concerts each season. Per a 1982 law (changed in 2007), the Iceland Symphony's primary financial sources are the Icelandic treasury (82%) and the City of Reykjavik (18%).
Eva Ollikainen took in September 2020 over as the chief conductor and artistic director of the Iceland Symphony, Osmo Vänskä is the orchestra's honorary conductor and Vladimir Ashkenazy holds the post of Conductor Laureate. As of the season 2021/22 Daníel Bjarnason is the orchestras artist in association but had been principal guest conductor the years before, Anna Thorvaldsdottir assumed the position of Composer-in-Residence with the orchestra in 2018. Víkingur Heiðar Ólafsson joined the roster in 2021 as artist in residence and Bertrand de Billy the same year as principal guest conductor. Kornilios Michailidis was appointed as conductor in residence 2021.
History
Background (1921–1950)
The first known instance of an orchestra concert in Iceland was on May 22, 1921, when a group of 20 jobbing musicians played for King Christian X of Denmark who was on official visit in the country. The same basic group and its conductor, composer Þórarinn Guðmundsson, became the founding members of an official orchestra, The Reykjavík Orchestra (Hljómsveit Reykjavíkur; RO), in the same year. The RO remained virtually the only functional orchestra in Iceland until the founding of the ISO in 1950. Among the highpoints of The RO's operating time was a celebration in Þingvellir on the occasion of the 1000-year-anniversary of the Icelandic national Parliament in 1930, which saw the premiere of several compositions by Icelandic composers.
Among other steps toward the foundation of ISO was the foundation of the Reykjavík Music School (Tónlistarskóli Reykjavíkur) in 1930 and the foundation of The Icelandic Federation of Musicians (Félag íslenskra hljóðfæraleikara, later renamed Félag íslenskra hljómlistarmanna; FÍH) in 1939, which became the most influential trade union of musicians in Iceland during the 20th century. Several reputable Icelandic musicians, composers and music enthusiasts wrote articles in local newspapers during this period where Iceland's primitive state of musical culture was reprimanded, most notably Jón Leifs (1899-1968), composer and conductor, who had studied at the Leipzig Conservatory during World War I. Leifs emphasized the inevitable need of a decent symphony orchestra lest Iceland should lag behind other civilized countries. Furthermore, the growing music industry was stimulated by a handful of European musicians who came to live and work in Iceland during the first half of the century. Among the most influential were Franz Mixa (1902–1994), Victor Urbancic (1903–1958) and Wilhelm Lanzky-Otto (1909–1991).
Foundation and first years (1950–1956)
During the late-forties, the dream of a professional orchestra loomed ever larger in public discussion in Iceland. A group of musicians, led by composers Páll Ísólfsson (1893-1974) and Jón Þórarinsson (1917-2012), wrote a formal proposal to the government where suggestions of administration and ownership of the planned orchestra were put forward. Eysteinn Jónsson (1906-1993), minister of culture, introduced a bill in Parliament during the winter of 1947-1948 where a special fund for the management of an orchestra was planned. Jónsson's bill assumed that financial support should come from The National Radio (Ríkisútvarpið; RÚV), The Reykjavík Music Society (Tónlistarfélag Reykjavíkur) and The National Theatre (Þjóðleikhúsið), which was not yet in operation. The rest of the funding was supposed to come from a tax imposed on movie tickets. However, there was no agreement on the bill in Parliament as MPs representing constituencies outside Reykjavík expressed great antagonism to the idea.
In 1950, the steering committee of RÚV agreed to experimentally finance the activity of an orchestra of 40 members for a few months. No formal inaugural meeting was held so the orchestra's foundation date is considered March 9, 1950 when its first concert took place.