On this New Sounds program, we’ll hear a sampling of works from a concentrated new music hotspot: Iceland.  It’s a scene where rock music, orchestral music and electronics are blended freely and without regard for genre lines.  To get an idea, we’ll hear music by composer/producer Valgeir Sigurdsson, who balances chamber and classical against rock and electronica.  Plus, something from the now San Diego-based Anna Thorvaldsdottir, whose frosty orchestral music seems to invoke a shimmery soundworld of texures, even though it is played using just acoustic instruments on her record, “Rhizoma.”

Also, there’s music from a dance score by Olafur Arnalds, lush, ambient northern soundscape music from cellist/composer Hildur Gudnadottir, and orchestral strings & modern electronica in music from the Reykjavik-based Johann Johannson.

PROGRAM # 3283, New Music from Iceland (First aired on 12/20/2011)