Tuesday, 1 October at 12 We welcome you to the next lunchtime concert at Hafnarborg, but this time it will be Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir guest Antonia Hevesi, pianist and artistic director of the concert series. The title of the concert is „Love and Lies“, and the programme features passionate arias from operas by Mozart, Donizetti, Puccini and Gounod.

Vera Hjördís Matsdóttir, a soprano, completed a master's degree in classical singing at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague earlier this year. Before that, she graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in the spring of 2020. Her teachers were Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir, Kristinn Sigmundsson, Ólöf Kolbrún Harðardóttir and Þóra Einarsdóttir. Upon graduating from the University of the Arts, Vera was selected as a recipient of a scholarship from the Halldór Hansen Fund. She was also among the sixteen outstanding students who received a scholarship from Landsbankinn in the spring of 2023.

Vera regularly performs as a soloist in Iceland, and her recent projects include a participation in the 'Velkomin heim' concert series and a performance with the Lorelei Collective at the Siglufjörður Folk Music Festival. Vera also played the lead role in a new Icelandic opera by Sigrún Gyða Sveinsdóttir, Shoot, which was exhibited in Ásmundarsal, as well as appearing as a soloist in the performance of Oratorio of Christmas by Saint-Saëns at Seltjarnarnes Church, conducted by Stefán Sands. This winter, Vera will then perform the role of Barbarina in The Wedding of the Rose by Mozart in a production by the Chamber Opera in collaboration with the City Theatre. Vera will also be performing the same role in the opera. Side track, written by Thorunn Gudmundsdottir.

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.