There is a great deal of job satisfaction here.

The Hafnarfjörður Music School (TH) was founded in 1950 and
began its operations with 16 students, most of whom were studying piano. Initially
the school's premises were widely located throughout the town, until the City of Hafnarfjörður became the first
the municipality to build a music school from scratch, on Strandgata, in the year
1997. The housing is already bursting at the seams, however, but the opportunities are many and
Lots to look forward to in our anniversary year. The local newspaper Hafnfirðingur spoke with Eiríkur Stephensen, the headmaster.

Eiríkur began working as headmaster of TH in October 2018, after
21 years as head teacher of the Eyjafjörður Music School. Eiríkur is also the other
of the duo Hundur í óskilum and one of the two composers of the music in
the musical Gosa at the City Theatre. Eiríkur tells the story of the time since he began
Work at TH has involved getting to grips with the school, where the shoe pinches and what
the possibilities the school has, but they are very great. „I feel very comfortable here and me
has been very well received by staff, parents and the administration. I
I have invested in a house in town and the family is moving here this spring. I
I feel I've got a completely different job to the one up north, because the schools are very
different.“

Friendship between music schools 

Among the changes that have taken place in recent winters is that
In the second year of the preparatory school, the traditional recorder course was changed to learning the
playing a wind instrument in small groups. „We are in a very friendly relationship with
The Garðabær Music School and this winter we hired Inga Björk Ingadóttir
a music therapist part-time as a consultant and in teaching. We would like to be able to
welcoming students with special needs, but the school has taken great pride in
such a thing“ says Eiríkur. The winter has also been spent on a change to
a music theory course, which will probably start next autumn. It is a pilot project.
for 2 years in collaboration with the Iceland Academy of the Arts. „And so we also want to be
with baby classes for 3-12 months.“

Professionalism and patience characterise the teaching methods.

The TH's premises have become too small for all its activities and says
Erik that an attempt is being made to increase cooperation with primary schools, e.g. by
offer instrumental music lessons in schools during school hours and thus ease the pressure on the system.
the premises on Strandgata. „I come from such a system in a previous job. In some places
is this possible here in town and the schools are willing to look into it. We are
to get a great facility at Skarðshlíðarskóli, we also have the rhythmic department at
the old Lækjarskóli and would like to get it over here. We are looking at all
possibilities for how we can expand the school.“

Many former students doing good things

The highlight of the music school's anniversary year will be the anniversary itself.
the anniversary celebration in the Sports Hall on Strandgata in November, but Eiríkur says that
all events throughout the year will be more or less dedicated to the anniversary. „We are
to shape this gradually and we would like to have, for example, a brass band day, because that
The 60th anniversary of the TH Band was forgotten two years ago. Band
Hafnarfjörður is also staffed, more or less, by students and teachers from us. So
We are, of course, extremely proud of the successful composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. „Parents
hers, Ingveldur Ólafsdóttir and Guðni Franzson, were my classmates in
music for a long time and I last saw Hildur when she was one year old. I have to
of course, she has been monitored since then. Although Hildur is the most famous student at the school in
There is a long list of former students here who are doing good things.
The school is also known for its excellent teaching staff and there is a great atmosphere here.
job satisfaction“ Eirik says at last.  

An interview with Eiríkur was published in the local newspaper Hafnfirðinginn on 8 March 2020.