Tuesday, 7 February at 12 We welcome you to the first lunchtime concert of the year at Hafnarborg, where Erla Björg Káradóttir, soprano, perform alongside Antonia Hevesi, pianist and artistic director of the concert series. This time, the concert is entitled „Longing“, and will feature arias from operas and operettas by Massenet, Puccini, Strauss and Jón Ásgeirsson.
Erla Björg Káradóttir Erla Björg began her musical studies at the Garðabær Music School, graduating with an advanced diploma in singing in 2003. She then undertook postgraduate studies at the Mozarteum University of Music in Salzburg, Austria. Erla Björg has performed in various concerts both at home and abroad, for example, she took part in the Opernwerkstatt Lofer in Austria twice, as well as participating in Ragnar Kjartansson's award-winning show, Bliss, at the Performa art biennale in New York in 2011 and To the music in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2012. Erla Björg also sang a solo when the Youth Symphony Orchestra performed Song of Praise by Mendelssohn, together with the University Choir and the Chamber Choir of the University of Erfurt, Germany, in 2016.
Roles sung by Erla Björg include Sister Angelica in Puccini's opera of the same name, and the role of Gretel in the opera Hans and Gretel after Humperdinck and the role of Tebaldo in the Icelandic Opera's production of Don Carlos by Verdi. She has also taken part in the OP Group's productions on Maria Callas and Richard Strauss, as well as in the production Verdi and again Verdi which received great critical acclaim. Erla Björg has attended various courses in singing and music, including with Maria Teresa Uribe, David Jones, Julie Kaufmann, Janet Williams, Donald Kaasch and Barbara Bonney, as well as taking private lessons with Kristján Jóhannsson and Sigríður Ella Magnúsdóttir.
Antonia Hevesi, a pianist, has been the artistic director of the lunchtime concerts at Hafnarborg since their inception, and they have been a regular feature of the museum's programme since 2003. There, Antonía has been joined by many of the country's leading singers, with the aim of the concerts being to give visitors the opportunity to enjoy live music at their leisure. The lunchtime concerts are usually held on the first Tuesday of each month during the winter season.
The concert starts at 12 noon and will last for about half an hour. The venue opens at 11:30 am and the concert is open to all, subject to capacity. Admission is free.