Song Festival and Gadus Morhua receive a grant from the Fridrik's Fund

The presentation of grants from the fund of Friðrik Bjarnason and Guðlaug Pétursdóttir took place in Friðrik's Room at the Music Department of the Hafnarfjörður Library on Monday, 28 November. Sunday, 27th November, marked the 142nd anniversary of the birth of Friðrik Bjarnaason, organist and composer, whose best-known song, set to a poem by his wife Guðlaug Pétursdóttir, is the unofficial anthem of the people of Hafnarfjörður: „Þú hýri Hafnarfjörður“. It is customary for the mayor to present the grants on or around Fridrik's birthday, and two projects received grants this year: the Singing Festival at Hafnarborg and Gadus Morhua. Ingibjörg Þorsteinsdóttir, Andrés Þór Gunnlaugsson and Helga Loftsdóttir are on the fund's board.

Extensive teaching work and the founding of several choirs

In 1908, Friðrik became a teacher at Hafnarfjörður's primary school, initially teaching all subjects, but later his music teaching became his main specialism. In addition to his extensive teaching work, Friðrik founded and coached several choirs, including the male choir „Þrestir“, which he founded in 1912 and conducted for 14 years. Fridrik was best known for his compositions, and some of his best-known songs include „Fyrr var oft í koti kátt“, „Hafið, bláa hafið“, „Abba labba lá“, and his tune for the folk poem „Jólasveinar ganga um gólf“, which is known by most people. The couple gave the City of Hafnarfjörður almost all of their possessions before they died. Their music library went to the Hafnarfjörður Library, where a special music department with sheet music and record loans now operates, and the department is named after Friðrik. A fund was also established from their gift to support and promote singing education in Hafnarfjörður.

The Hafnarborg Song Festival received a grant of kr. 400,000.

The Hafnarborg Singing Festival was founded in 2017, and its seventh festival will take place in 2023. The festival offers concerts and courses with the aim of promoting the art of the voice. The Festival has established itself as a prestigious music festival that musicians are keen to perform at. It has also received well-deserved media attention, strong audience attendance at its concerts, and creates opportunities for a number of professional musicians. The founders and artistic directors of the festival, the singer Guðrún Jóhanna Ólafsdóttir and guitarist Javier Jáuregui, accepted the grant.

The singer Guðrún Jóhanna Ólafsdóttir and guitarist Javier Jáuregui received the grant.

Gadus Morhua received a grant of 300,000 kr for the project „Budgets in Fine Clothes“.

Björk Níelsdóttir, soprano, Eyólfur Eyólfsson, tenor, and Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir, baroque cellist, form the folk-usla ensemble Gadus Morhua, which is „known for playing havoc with the form“, as Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen put it when reviewing the group's first CD. To date, Gadus Morhua has turned older folk songs both inside out and woven them together with baroque tones. The band received a grant to tackle the Icelandic national budget, the song collection of Sigfús Einarsson and Halldór Jónsson from the years 1915-1916, at a concert in Hafnarborg in spring 2023, where older people will be especially welcome. Ingibjörg Lydia Ingvadóttir, mother of Gadus Morhua member Eyjólfur Eyjólfsson, received the grant.

Ingibjörg Lydia Ingvadóttir, mother of Eyjólfur Eyjólfsson, a member of Gadus Morhua, received the grant.

Hafnarfjörður warmly congratulates the grant recipients on their grants!