| Country | Iceland |
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| Occupation | Composer |
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| Categories | Contemporary, Experimental Music |
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Anna has in recent years been prominent among Icelandic composers. Based in Reykjavik, Iceland and San Diego, California, her music is frequently performed in Europe and in the US, and has been featured at several music festivals, including Nordic Music Days, Prague Premieres, Festival Nordischer Klang, Skálholt Summer Concerts, Young Nordic Music, and Dark Music Days. Her works have been nominated and awarded on several occasions, e.g. at Prix Europa in Berlin 2010. The piece Six minutes (for flute, percussion, and harp) was selected by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Services for the annual International Rostrum of Composers (IRC) in Vienna 2005, and Hrím (for chamber orchestra) was selected for the IRC in Lisbon 2010.
Hrím was awarded Composition of the Year (2010) at the Icelandic Music Awards 2011.
Among the groups and orchestras that have performed and commissioned Anna's works are: the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, CAPUT ensemble, Palimpsest (UCSD modern music ensemble), Hljómeyki choir, Mótettukór Hallgrímskirkju choir, Aton/Njúton, Adapter Ensemble, Athelas Ensemble, Nordlys Ensemble, Vocal Ensemble Talla, and Duo Harpverk.
The Iceland Symphony Orchestra has recorded three of Anna's orchestra pieces. Dreaming was premiered by the orchestra January 14th 2010, conducted by Bernharður Wilkinson and A moment of a peace was performed March 30th 2006, conducted by Christian Lindberg. Anna's pieces have been released on several recordings, for example on Roto con moto by Njúton ensemble, which was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards in 2008.
Anna finished her BA in composition from the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2004 where she studied with Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson and Mist Þorkelsdóttir. In 2006 she started her graduate studies at the University of California in San Diego, where she received her MA in 2008. She is currently a PhD candidate in composition in the same department where she has primarily worked with Rand Steiger and Lei Liang, as well as with Chinary Ung, Philippe Manoury, Roger Reynolds, and percussionist Steven Schick. She has also attended many masterclasses and private lessons with several other composers at UCSD and elsewhere. Anna was a teaching assistant at the University of California, San Diego from 2006 to 2010 and is currently an Associate-In-Music at the department, teaching music theory and composition.
Anna is currently working on a portrait album with selected orchestra pieces, performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic CAPUT ensemble, to be released in fall 2011. Among her current commissions is an orchestra piece for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, which will be premiered in HARPA, the new award-winning Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre.
