ECHO Rising Stars with Soprano

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear the classical stars of tomorrow – today. Rising Stars is a unique and forward-looking collaboration between 23 of Europe’s leading concert halls, all part of ECHO – the European Concert Hall Organisation. Each year, a select group of young artists and ensembles from across Europe are given the opportunity to tour all of the venues and perform for international audiences. Time and again, the artists chosen for Rising Stars go on to enjoy internationally successful careers.

Icelandic soprano (and visual artist) Álfheidur Erla Gudmundsdóttir has been nominated by Harpa in Reykjavík and Philharmonie Luxembourg. She moves effortlessly between musical genres, and a few years ago gained international attention with Poems – an album she created together with composer Viktor Orri Árnason, setting music to the words of Icelandic poets. She has also collaborated with acclaimed pianist Víkingur Ólafsson, and her performance Apparition was described by critics as “a unique and unforgettable artistic event.” Alongside her experimental work, she has also sung roles such as Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Staatsoper in Berlin and Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the opera in Basel.

In this concert, she performs – among other works – a new piece by Icelandic composer María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir. She is joined by Indian-American pianist Kunal Lahiry, a long-time collaborator who in recent seasons has performed at venues such as Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall in New York.