Icelandic Composer Bára Gísladóttir Wins Prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize

Icelandic contrabass player and composer Bára Gísladóttir, who was the joint winner of the Grapevine Music Awards “Shout Out” category earlier this year alongside rapper Alvia Islandia, has won the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize. The prize is one of the most prestigious music awards in Denmark. Founded way back in 1959, the first winner was none less than Igor Stravinsky.

The prize comes with a grant, and the website states: “Bára will use the scholarship to expand her composition knowledge and skills. She will take private lessons with the Italian composer and professor in composition, Gabriele Manca, in Milan. She will also go on study trips to cooperate with Loadbang and TAK Ensemble in New York, Riot Ensemble in Reykjavík and Amsterdam and Nordic Affect in Reykjavík and Skálholt.”

Bára has released three albums to date: ‘Different Rooftops’ (2015), ‘B R I M S L Ó’ (2016), and ‘Mass For Some’ in 2017.

Read Bára’s favourite albums here, and read past interviews with her here and here.

The prize was awarded to ten musicians and composers. Vera Panitch—a violinist at the Iceland Symphony Orchestra—also received an award in the same category.