Anna Thorvaldsdottir: I. Small Town Living

Anna grew up in a tiny town surrounded by incredible beauty — mountains, ocean — studying music under the guidance of her music-teacher mother and aunt. Growing up in a small town is hard as a kid, and Anna yearned to be around more people, to go to Reykjavik, and to see the world. When, at age 12, she started studying the cello, Anna found her voice. She pursued college in Reykjavik as a cellist, and it was there that she first started notating the musical phrases she had always thought about. Composition became a necessary, undeniable calling in her life. Anna continued to pursue it in grad school, moving to San Diego to study with Rand Steiger. - Nadia Sirota