Sæunn
 
January 24th Happy New Year everyone! I´m excited to show you a new video produced by Matt Dine featuring the first Britten Suite. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13-Nd_0yDqs Enjoy! musically yours, Sæunn November 25th I´m back in Iceland! I almost feel like I never left! Just played the Dutilleux “ Toute un monde lointain...” with the Iceland Symphony its new music director Ilan Volkov. I fell in love with this piece 7 years ago while studying in Paris and I have been looking for an opportunity to play it ever since. What a masterpiece! A truly enigmatic work of incredible color and depth, the cello acts as a tourguide through this fantastic world. The concert went better than I could have ever hoped, and I have Ilan and the orchestra to thank for the trust and the support last night. An absolute thrill ride of a concert!!! Now after resting in the Blue Lagoon ( I know, a little cliché, but such a good one!) I´m looking forward to hearing some cello students play for me at the Iceland Academy of the Arts. musically yours, Sæunn UPDATE: I have been nominated for Classical Musician of the Year of the Icelandic Music Awards for this concert! So honored.. Kærar þakkir! November 1st FINALLY!!! The long awaited Britten CD is out!!! I´ve made a new page on here where you can find links to purchase your own copy!  Plans for a release concert/party coming soon.... musically yours, Sæunn September 21st Greetings from Prussia Cove in beautiful Cornwall, England! I am here at the Open Chamber Music with a fantastic group of lovely pianists and string players, as well as my dear friend Sarah Beaty, clarinetist extrodinaire, whom I know through both the Marlboro Music Festival and The Academy. We are playing Brahms Quintet this week together, which we haven´t done together, and then another piece that I haven´t yet played, the Schubert Bb Trio, a monumental work that needs much more than a week of study, but we are having fun diving into it anyway! Steven Isserlis is the director and he can be seen lurking around, I´ve been trying to stay away from him as he teases me mercilessly about moving from Iceland to America (a place which he doesn´t have many kind words) In fact the first words that came out of his mouth as we see each other at the train station in Penzance are “ Is it possible you are even more American than the last time I saw you?” Despite all that, the sea air and the scones are helping me get over a horrible bout of food poisoning that I had on the way over the pond, and I feel reborn with all of this inspiration! Hope you all have a chance to come here one day, truly one of the most special places on earth. musically yours, Sæunn June 24th Greetings from Ísafjörður! I just played a thrilling concert with Owen Dalby, Meena Bhasin and James Austin Smith from Ensemble ACJW, some Schubert, Ravel, Britten and Mozart. We are here at the Við Djúpið Music Festival, playing and working with three young composers who have all written oboe quartets for us to be premiered in a couple days, soaking in the midnight sun, the stunning fjords and all the awesome concerts! On top of this, I am teaching the cello masterclasses as well, so there isn´t a lot of time for sleep, but my colleagues are pulling me through! Thank you guys for being so patient, brilliant and witty!!! The keyboard is starting to look blurry, must mean that I should try to get atleast a couple hours of sleep... musically yours, Sæunn May 9th Lovely week spent with my dear friend, fantastic pianist Sam Armstrong who played with me at the residence of the Icelandic Ambassador in Washington, DC. Ambassador Hjálmar Hannesson and his wife, Anna Birgis, (and their adorable dog Coco) are some of the most gracious and lovely hosts I have ever come across. Sam and I took the train to DC after a week at the Britten Pears Foundation in Aldeburgh, England with Mitsuko Uchida, Mark Steinberg, Clemens Hagen, Anthony McGill, Marina Piccinini and Barbara Sukowa who were preparing for their Pierrot Lunaire tour in the fall. Truly a pleasure to be around these guys, really makes me appreciate what a privilege it is to be a working musician. Don´t get me wrong, it was also a week of brutal fact-facing, reality checks, and non stop rehearsing, but in the end I am inspired to continue working deeper and more intensely because the more I put in, the more music gives back! musically yours, Sæunn April 18th, 2011 Just came back from the Milwaukee area! Had a great time at the Wilson Center on Sunday, the world premiere of Jeffrey Mumford´s piece and the first of my “Inspired by Britten” concept concerts. I paired the 3rd Bach Suite with the 3rd Britten Suite and Jeffrey´s piece was the third pillar of this concert. Always invigorating to try something new! I spent last week playing for some local string students, working with the awesome cellists at the String Academy and playing chamber music at the Rust Belt Salon. Thanks everyone for an incredible week! musically yours, Sæunn February 9th, 2011 Some pretty amazing music videos were made for Bow to String by Daníel Bjarnason. This is the piece I recorded for his debut album Processions (which can be found here!) The videos are by movement: Sorrow Conquers Happiness Blood to Bones Air to Breath Enjoy! musically yours, Sæunn January 1st, 2011 Quote of the day: “Some people are just more alive than others.” -Mom I have often thought that performing music was my way of celebrating the state of being alive, a celebration of humanness and the moment that is shared in that space. So this is my resolution and my wish to you: May this year be even more alive than the last! musically yours, Sæunn December 14th, 2010 I´m back in NYC! In the cab across town today, I found myself staring out the window at the scaffolding around Carnegie Hall, and there I am with my colleagues from Ensemble ACJW!!  I got a last minute call to do Saturday Night Live, David Letterman and The View with Diddy Dirty Money. I´ve never done anything like this before so it was really exhilarating and eye-opening to do live TV shows and to work with a major mainstream performer like P. Diddy. It is definitely a different world! In other news, my cello is reacting to this weather in a relatively normal way! Cross your fingers that this good behavior will continue... musically yours, Sæunn November 15th, 2010 Greetings from Amsterdam! My head is still spinning from the Cello Biennale... what a fantastic event it was! Thousands of cellists together for a week with hundreds of events, concerts, masterclasses, lectures and even a competition! As I was there as the Icelandic member of the All American Cello Band (masterminded by Richard Aaron) I got free passes to everything (when we weren´t rehearsing, of course...) Highlights of the week for me were Anner Bylsma´s classes, my work with my dear friend and wonderful musician Adriane Tilanus (with whom I performed Ravel duo in concert) and an unplanned coffee with one of my cello idols Jean-Guihen Queras! Of course all of this is framed by hanging out, rehearsing and performing with some of the most generous and inspiring colleagues and old friends, who happen to be some of the best cellists around! Hope to catch the next one in 2012!! musically yours, Sæunn September 12th, 2010 Happy Fall everyone! I sent out an email this summer about the Performance Today radio shows featuring Marlboro performances, but if you missed it, here´s the link: http://performancetoday.publicradio.org/?month=8&day=2&year=2010 (I encourage you to sign up for my mailing list on the “Contact” page if you haven´t already!) After an exhausting (but WONDERFUL) summer at Marlboro, I am settling back into life in New York, and frontloading for the coming season. I am excited to be continuing my relationship with Carnegie as a mentor for a couple of new fellows at The Academy, as well as performing as part of their Musical Connections programs around the city. I am truly inspired and excited about the possibilities of this new season and I will be updating again soon with some more projects and special concerts. musically yours, Sæunn April 22nd, 2010 Apologies for the long silence! This has been a crazy spring! Just to catch you up: There was no Brahms double with Diet in Amsterdam, I didn´t get awarded the “Brightest Hope” Award at the Icelandic Music Awards, but Daníel won “Composer of the Year” and “Bow to String” won “Classical Work of the Year”!!! I also got a nice mention in the May issue of The Strad from the Met concert with Mr. Perlman. I´ll skip to the good parts: “ ...(Saeunn) offering, from the cello, elegant solos, resonant pizzicato lines and wonderfully comical triple stops.” I am excited to announce that there is a new musical work being born as we speak! Jeffrey Mumford is writing me a solo cello piece which I will perform next season with the title: to find in the glimmering air  . . . a buoyant continuity of layering blue. I already have a dress in mind.... ;) I´ll keep you posted on that is it comes to fruition! as always, musically yours, Sæunn February 23rd 2010 When it rains it pours!!! I just got news that I have been awarded the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation Career Grant!!! I am extremely grateful as this will help me immensely in the fall. On top of that, I have been nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards in the category of “Brightest Hope”! And Daníel´s CD was nominated for Best Classical/Contemporary Album and “Bow to String” was nominated for the best Classical Work. The ceremony will take place on March 13th, and I´m hoping I´ll be able to go back to Iceland to play at the live broadcast. Very exciting times!!! In other news, I just got back from Iceland playing Dvorak with the Iceland Symphony which was a blast and an incredible learning experience all wrapped up into one super-charged package. Working with Susanna Malkki was a dream. and it was really heart warming to have so much support, not only from the players in the orchestra, but also friends and family, some that I haven´t seen since I was 5 years old!!!! Most importantly, this performance had a deep significance for me. The Dvorak is truly the reason I play the cello today, having heard 2 very inspirational live performances when I was younger. The first was Zara Nelsova in Cedar Rapids Iowa, commemorating the 200 years since the composer lived in Spillville, and then Rostropovich at Carnegie Hall with the Boston Symphony, sitting just 3 rows in front of Slava, overcome with his greatness. I also learned this piece when I was 14 and living in Akureyri, Iceland, so this piece has always had a personal memory of home. I couldn´t have asked for a better homecoming. Takk kærlega fyrir mig! musically yours, Sæunn February 2nd 2010 I’ve been spending my time in the studio recording the Britten Suites this past week, and am happy to report that I am finished!!! A big thanks to my recording engineer Stephen Roessner for his amazing talent and knowledge and being such a pleasure to work with! This has been an incredible learning experience, a gut-wrenching process, but I think I ended up leaving my heart and soul on that tape and I hope it will translate into something cohesive in the end! Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that my work is done, there is still a lot of editing,odds and ends to take care of, and of course production will take some time, but I am looking at a release date in the early fall! Can’t wait!! And now for just a few hours of sleep.... ;) musically yours, Sæunn January 11th 2010 Just came from a Professional Development session at the Academy with David Finckel and Wu Han, wanted to share with you their blog about it: http://artistled.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/january-11-master-class-master-class/ musically yours, Sæunn January 2nd 2010 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! A new year requires new strings, and my cello is thanking me already! I have gone into hiding for a few weeks to focus on the Britten Suites which I will record later this month and feel rejuvenated and balanced. Its going to be a fun-filled year and I’m excited to tackle everything that comes my way (even as I glance over the pile of music to learn!). Thanks for the many wonderful memories in the past year, here’s a toast to the many good times to come: CHEERS!!! musically yours, Sæunn December 22nd, 2009 Just a few links to share with you for your holiday browsing! Two are from my December 10th concert with the fantastic pianist and dear friend, Alexandra Joan at Trinity Church. You can watch the whole recital for a few more weeks here: http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/calendar/2009/12/10/saeunn-thorsteinsdottir-cello-and-alexandra-joan-piano/ And read a review here: http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/concert-review-saeunn-thorsteinsdottir-and-alexandra-joan-at-trinity-church-nyc-121009/ Also very exciting is the review from Ensemble ACJW´s concert at Le Poisson Rouge where we played “Bow to String” by Daníel Bjarnason. As mentioned before, this piece was written for me but actually re-orchestrated for the ensemble and this particular concert. Here is the NY Times review: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/arts/music/15acjw.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ACJW&st=cse Also recently added to cyberspace are videos from Ensemble ACJW´s Skidmore College Residency. www.acjw.org (scroll down) Enjoy! musically yours, Sæunn December 9th, 2009 Big News!!! I have signed a contract with Centaur Records to record the three Suites for Solo Cello by Benjamin Britten for my debut CD!  I am more than thrilled to be recording these gems of the cello repertoire and to be involved with the Centaur label.  I will start recording in late January and if everything goes according to plan, it should come out next fall.  More to come!!!   musically yours, Sæunn September 28th, 2009 Happy Fall! I´m back in New York City, starting up at The Academy again, planning for the year and getting my act together. I went back to PS28 and we are off to a great start in our partnership! I have also started rehearsals with Ensemble ACJW and its heavy on the romantic rep for the fall, which is fun and satisfying. I´m enjoying seeing everyone here, catching up on our summers and diving into our projects. It is motivating and inspirational to be working with such a fantastic group of people! I´ll keep you posted on our projects and concerts as they come to fruition. Stay tuned! musically yours, Sæunn August 6th, 2009 Greetings from Marlboro, Vermont! I’m here for another 10 days, performing a lot, rehearsing even more and having a blast in this chamber music paradise. Pieces I performed so far are: Mozart Piano Trio, Dvorak String Sextet, Davidovsky Piano Septet, Robert Cuckson’s Yiddish song cycle “Der Gayst funem shturem” and this weekend will be Mendelssohn Octet and a Beethoven sextet for 2 horns and string quartet. (more info here: www.marlboromusic.org ) Along with being marinated in chamber music with fantastic musicians, I have been put in charge of one of the skits for International Dinner, a great tradition here. This means that I have to organize a short operetta based on the events and characters from this summer and rally my team to perform it monday night! Unfortunately I can’t reveal any of the details here, since there are spies from the other teams lurking around... can’t take any chances!!! Wish us luck! musically yours, Sæunn June 24th, 2009 Greetings from Iceland! I just got back from recordings with the Icelandic National Radio and before that I spent the week in Ísafjörður, in the Westfjords with Ísafold Chamber Orchestra. We premiered the concert version of Daníel´s piece, Bow to String, that he wrote for me (see below) and I had a few other solo stints as well. I had a fantastic time, great music with great people, beautiful landscapes, 24 hour light, ultimate frisbee and swimming! One of the concerts was broadcast live and you can listen to it here: http://dagskra.ruv.is/ras1/4468652/2009/06/21/ Now I´m back in Reykjavík and looking forward to playing Daníel´s piece again tomorrow night at the Reykjavik Museum of Art, Kjarvalsstaðir. I´m starting to feel a cold coming on, so I´m drowning myself in tea and soup, hoping it will pass. Keep your fingers crossed! musically yours, Sæunn May 29th, 2009 I had the pleasure of witnessing thousands of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students play with the Orchestra of St. Luke´s at Carnegie Hall today! We have been working since October through a program called LinkUP which teaches students some fundamentals of music, how to play the recorder and introduces a few American classical, gospel and folk songs that culminated in yesterday´s concert. I am so proud of my students from PS28! Of course, I´ve known their potential and have worked closely with them in the classroom, but it is another step to bring that hard work to the stage, and they definitely rose to the occasion! A big BRAVO to the Orchestra of St. Luke´s and the Weill Institute for making it such a fulfilling day for thousands of budding musicians! On a personal note, I´m happy to report that I´ll be working with PS28 again next year, continuing the work we´ve done this year! Looking forward to it! As always, musically yours, Sæunn May 24th, 2009 I´ve been asked to replace an ailing colleague for a concert next week, and although I´m terribly sorry that she has had to cancel, I am more than thrilled to play with Frank Levy at the Yamaha Room next saturday. We have been wanting to play together for some time, but it has never worked out until now and I´m very excited to collaborate with such a fantastic musician and wonderful person. The concert is all Schubert, which is sort of his speciality, and we´ll be playing the Arpeggione sonata. Hope to see you there! musically yours, Sæunn April 27th, 2009 I can´t believe its almost summer here in New York, it snuck up on me this year! Tempus fugit! These days I´m gearing up for a trip to northern Michigan where I´ll be playing Haydn C major and a solo recital next weekend. I´m in the midst of writing my own cadenza for the Haydn and finding it more and more difficult to make decisions about what to cut and how much blatant virtuosity is enough. Short and simple is in my nature (and I wouldn´t want to bore the audience) but finding a balance is, as always, the crux of the art. Come to the concert to find out what the final edition sounds like! musically yours, Sæunn March 27th 2009 I have been quite busy this past month and I´m feeling a bit overwhelmed, but everything that I´m doing is so invigorating that I can´t imagine scaling back on anything! On top of the concerts and a new teaching adventure, I have been trying to make time to go to other concerts (not just my own!) this month and I´m really glad I did. Its refreshing to be on the other side of the stage sometimes to gain a little perspective and just let the music wash over you. Right now, I´m gearing up for the Prussia Cove Masterclasses with Steven Isserlis, trying to figure out how much liquid I can take in my carry-on etc. PC is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth and I´ve never been to London (shocking, I know!) so I´m very excited to explore. Must start packing! musically yours, Sæunn Feb 16th 2009 The Department of Education is on break for President´s Week so unfortunately I won´t see my kids at PS28 this week. However, I have other projects to be excited about! On Saturday I´ll be playing Verklaerte Nacht with violinist Jennifer Curtis and some new and old friends. Based on a poem by Richard Dehmel, this piece is truly one of the most effective pieces in the chamber music literature. Written before Schoenberg´s days of 12-tone obsessions, this is a true romantic work, dripping with decadent harmonies that stretch the boundaries of traditional harmony to their maximum. Also on the program is a violin concerto by Paul Desenne that infuses Vivaldi´s 4 seasons with South American rhythms and folk songs. Should be an exciting concert! I´m also taking a fun little detour tonight and playing at a bar in my neighborhood! My good friend and brilliant songstress Stephanie Nilles has long been a friend of the Burlesque community in NYC and is taking a pit-stop from her tour around the country to play with some old friends. We´ll be playing Saint-Saens The Swan from Carnival of the Animals for our charming host, Honi Harlow´s number and I´ll be providing a musical interlude with some of Britten´s Suite op. 72 as well as jamming with Steph, Lumberjack Isto and Andrew Roitstein on some original songs of theirs. There are rumours that it is being filmed for Italian TV.. ? Always something happening around here... musically yours, Sæunn Feb 2nd 2009 Lots of exciting things happening right now... Rehearsals for ACJW´s Skidmore College residency are in full swing and I am very much looking forward to our visit. Along with the concert, we will be playing and discussing our music in classrooms and dorms, teaching private lessons, doing an outreach performance for Special-Education kids and holding open rehearsals for the community to have an inside look at what goes on in preparation for a concert. The morning after our performance in Filene Hall in Saratoga Springs, I´m jetting off to Cleveland to play Beethoven Triple with very good friends of mine, Annie Fullard and Sergei Babayan. Their brilliance and generosity in their music-making has been very inspirational for me and it is truly a dream come true to play this wonderful piece with them. On top of all that, it takes place in Severance Hall! The glittering palace of classical music, this hall was a staple of my undergraduate years when I would sneak into Cleveland Orchestra performances on Friday nights and now, just a few years later, I´m playing there! I´m also excited to go back to CIM to see the new Mixon hall and reconnect with all my old friends. I don´t have much time though, because I have to get back to New York to play again with ACJW at Carnegie. We are playing a Piano Trio by Marc-André Dalbavie that was premiered there last year by Yefim Bronfman, Lynn Harrell and Gil Shaham. We have a lot to live up to, but during the rehearsals, this piece is starting to seduce me with its hypnotic scales and colors and I am sure we will make it our own in the performance. I am very much looking forward to a week of fierce music making! musically yours, Sæunn Jan 18th 2009 Just some happy news to share with you: I played for the artistic committee of the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation today and am ecstatic to report that they have asked me to join their Artist Roster! I am very much looking forward to future projects and collaborations! musically yours, Sæunn Jan 15th 2009 Happy New Year! I just got back to NYC from Iceland where I spent a wonderful few weeks with friends and family. Even in the light of the economic collapse, there is a tangible feeling of hope and determination in people that I am sure will lead to creative and innovative solutions and projects. I’m starting to realize how incredibly rich we are to have the people that we care most about around us and to have the luxury of spending this time together. I know this sounds like I’m pouring on the syrup a little, but this visit was truly grounding for me and I just want to say Takk kærlega fyrir mig!* However, this trip wasn´t all coffee and sörur! I spent many a long night in the studio, recording for a new album of the music of Daníel Bjarnason, composer, conductor and friend. Along with playing in the orchestra for his 1st piano concerto, I also recorded a piece he wrote for me this spring (along with a revised movement or two). The colors and sounds that Daníel has penned (rather, pencilled and then mouse-clicked) are supremely original, heartfelt and bold. These melodies have been haunting me for months and, I’m amazed to report, I’m relieved to get them out. Recording has to be my least favorite part of a musician´s life and at times I thought it would literally kill me, but working with such incredible people and playing such fantastic music made the time fly! (Dare I say that I had a good time?! ;) After hearing the raw edits, I’m absolutely giddy with anticipation of the final cut! More updates soon!!! musically yours, Sæunn * For those of you not fluent in the wonderful Icelandic language it means: Thank you very much on my behalf.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13-Nd_0yDqsCD.htmlhttp://www.carnegiehall.org/Academy/Ensemble-ACJW/http://viddjupid.is/http://www.samarmstrongpianist.com/http://www.brittenpears.org/http://www.stringacademyofwisconsin.org/http://www.rustbeltsalon.com/http://www.bedroomcommunity.net/releases/processionshttp://vimeo.com/18753609http://vimeo.com/18878634http://vimeo.com/19133514http://amsterdamsecellobiennale.nl/http://performancetoday.publicradio.org/?month=8&day=2&year=2010http://www.jeffreymumford.com/http://artistled.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/january-11-master-class-master-class/http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/calendar/2009/12/10/saeunn-thorsteinsdottir-cello-and-alexandra-joan-piano/http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/calendar/2009/12/10/saeunn-thorsteinsdottir-cello-and-alexandra-joan-piano/http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/concert-review-saeunn-thorsteinsdottir-and-alexandra-joan-at-trinity-church-nyc-121009/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/arts/music/15acjw.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ACJW&st=csehttp://www.acjw.orghttp://www.marlboromusic.orghttp://dagskra.ruv.is/ras1/4468652/2009/06/21/http://www.yamaha.com/yasi/eventdetail.html?CNTID=5036487http://fontanasnyc.com/index.htmlhttp://www.myspace.com/stephanienilleshttp://www.honiharlow.com/http://www.cim.eduhttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/arts/music/06bron.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/E/Emerson%20String%20Quartethttp://www.swissglobal.org/en/artists/musicians/http://icecook.blogspot.com/2006/12/sarah-bernhardt-cookies-srur.htmlhttp://www.danielbjarnason.comshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3shapeimage_2_link_4shapeimage_2_link_5shapeimage_2_link_6shapeimage_2_link_7shapeimage_2_link_8shapeimage_2_link_9shapeimage_2_link_10shapeimage_2_link_11shapeimage_2_link_12shapeimage_2_link_13shapeimage_2_link_14shapeimage_2_link_15shapeimage_2_link_16shapeimage_2_link_17shapeimage_2_link_18shapeimage_2_link_19shapeimage_2_link_20shapeimage_2_link_21shapeimage_2_link_22shapeimage_2_link_23shapeimage_2_link_24shapeimage_2_link_25shapeimage_2_link_26shapeimage_2_link_27shapeimage_2_link_28shapeimage_2_link_29shapeimage_2_link_30shapeimage_2_link_31