Jón Sigurðsson, Piano — jonsigurdsson.com

One of the oldest concert series here in Iceland is the one located in the Art Gallery of Sigurjón Ólafsson/(Sigurjónssafn).  This beautiful one showroom gallery is located close to the shore and gives people, every Thuesday during the summertime, an opportunity to enjoy classical music and relax afterwards in the unique café there.  I will have an opportunity to appear in this series the 28th of August 2012 and accompany the singers Hlín Pétursdóttir and Hólmfríður Jóhannesdóttir in various duets and solo songs.  The concert starts at 20:30 and lasts one hour without an interruption.

It was enjoyable to perform for Finnish audience.  There also seems to be very good music halls everywhere in Finland.  Here are some programs from the concerts there which bring back good memories.

Concert Tour Iceland-Finland Sept. 2011

The Concert Tour of Pasi Eerikäinen and Jón Sigurðsson through Iceland-Finland will start September 11th at Stokkalækur, which is located some 120 Km East of Reykjavik.  That concert starts at 16:00 which is the common concert time there.   Then we go North and give two concerts there: Sept. 12 at Laugarborg in Eyjafjorður at 20:00 and Sept. 13 at Berg Cultural House Dalvík at 20:00.  The last concert in Iceland will take place in Reykjavík area on Sept. 14 in Salurinn. That last concert begins also at 20:00.  On the program are sonatas by Strauss and Brahms and contemporary works by Icelandic and Finnish composers, Jón Nordal and Jaakko Kuusisto.

Þjóðminjasafn Íslands

Þjóðminjasafn Íslands hefur nýverið eignast flygill af Estonia gerð.  Hann er staðsettur á jarðhæð hússins og passar vel við stærð salarins sem þar er.  Lék á Menningarnótt dagskrá með verkum eftir Bach, Mozart og Liszt en 200 ára afmælis Franz Liszt er nú minnst í ár.

Flutti ásamt Hlín Pétursdóttur Behrens, sópran og  Hólmfríði Jóhannesdóttur, mezzosópran fjölbreytta efnisskrá í Egilsstaðakirkju meðal annars dúetta eftir Brahms, Mendelssohn og Delibes, aríur auk íslenskra sönglaga.

Jón-Hólmfríður-Hlín í Egilsstaðakirkju 3. júlí 2011

It  is now possible to purchase Piano Sonatas on CD Baby either as a CD or mp3 downloads.  Click on the link here below and you will be directed to the homepage of CD Baby where you can listen to excerpts from each track.  To purchase Piano Sonatas click here.

In September 2011, Jón Sigurðsson, piano and Pasi Eerikäinen, violin will perform nine recitals in two weeks both in Iceland and Finland.  The tour starts in Iceland at Stokkalækur which is a small concert place on the country site some 120 Km. East of Reykjavík.  Three concerts follow soon after in Reykjavík area, and in the North of Iceland in Dalvík, and Laugarborg by Akureyri.  In end of September they will perform the program in five cities in Finland.   The first recital will be in G18 in Helsinki and then they go to Turku, Salo, Kauniainen and Tampere.  The program is on the Late-Romantic side:  Sonatas by Brahms and Strauss and contemporary works by Jón Nordal and Jaakko Kuusisto.

„Some heady and accomplished music-making in three sonatas of disparate styles, with each receiving a romantic’s sensibility in sturdy.“   Gary Lemco

Click here to see the review.

Strauss:  Sonata Op. 5 in b minor

Mozart:  Sonata Kv 332

Schumann:  Sonata Op. 22 in g minor

These sonatas show the piano from three different perspectives:  Strauss gives the piano an orchestral quality,  Mozart takes the classical approach and Schumann’s transition from classical to romantic style can easily been observed.

Caio Pagano will perform with his former students.

The concert pianist Caio Pagano has had a very successful carrier as a pianist and as a teacher as well.  A professor of piano at the Arizona State University in Tempe/Phoenix, AZ for many years he took part in building up the ASU – Music School and making it on of the  highest ranking in the US.  Now recently retired from the Music School he has arranged three recitals where he will bring his former students to Tempe to perform with him.   Most of the music will be performed on two pianos or four hand on one piano but there are some solos also on the program.

On Saturday, November the 6th 2:30 p.m. I will perform with Caio Pagano the first two movements from the Sonata op. 34 bis by J. Brahms which is a composer’s transcription of a string quintet for two pianos.  Also the ASU professor in singing Judy May will perform with me five of my songs in the same program.