Biography
Nordic Affect originated in 2005 when violinist Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir, violist Guðrún Hrund Harðardóttir, cellist Hanna Loftsdóttir, and harpsichordist Guðrún Óskarsdóttir came together as a period-instrument group, with Stefánsdóttir serving continuously as musical director. Although rooted in historical instruments, the ensemble has concentrated on avant-garde repertoire and has appeared at forward-looking venues across Europe and the United States while maintaining ties to Iceland’s experimental rock community.
The quartet first drew notice outside its Reykjavik concert series through appearances at festivals such as Belgium’s TRANSIT, November Music in the Netherlands, North Atlantic Flux in Britain, and Estonia Music Days, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Reykjavik Festival. Within Iceland the group has performed at Dark Music Days, where it later held an artists-in-residence position and worked with composer Maja Ratkje. Nordic Affect regularly commissions new pieces and has developed projects involving producers, composers, and visual artists; its members have also entered the experimental pop sphere, collaborating individually with artists that include Björk.
The ensemble has continued to present seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music, joining flutist Georgia Browne for a 2009 Brilliant-label recording of Carl Friedrich Abel’s works for flute and strings. Its 2015 release Calm of the Deep presented contemporary Icelandic compositions, and that same year the group moved to the Sono Luminus label with the album Clockworking. Raindamage appeared in 2017, followed in 2018 by He(a)r, devoted to female composers from Iceland and Estonia. The question of women’s historical contributions to music had already been explored in the group’s HÚN/SHE project, broadcast by the European Broadcasting Service in 2016. Nordic Affect received the Performer of the Year award at the 2014 Iceland Music Awards and has been nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize.
The quartet first drew notice outside its Reykjavik concert series through appearances at festivals such as Belgium’s TRANSIT, November Music in the Netherlands, North Atlantic Flux in Britain, and Estonia Music Days, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Reykjavik Festival. Within Iceland the group has performed at Dark Music Days, where it later held an artists-in-residence position and worked with composer Maja Ratkje. Nordic Affect regularly commissions new pieces and has developed projects involving producers, composers, and visual artists; its members have also entered the experimental pop sphere, collaborating individually with artists that include Björk.
The ensemble has continued to present seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music, joining flutist Georgia Browne for a 2009 Brilliant-label recording of Carl Friedrich Abel’s works for flute and strings. Its 2015 release Calm of the Deep presented contemporary Icelandic compositions, and that same year the group moved to the Sono Luminus label with the album Clockworking. Raindamage appeared in 2017, followed in 2018 by He(a)r, devoted to female composers from Iceland and Estonia. The question of women’s historical contributions to music had already been explored in the group’s HÚN/SHE project, broadcast by the European Broadcasting Service in 2016. Nordic Affect received the Performer of the Year award at the 2014 Iceland Music Awards and has been nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize.
Albums
Singles
