Erna Ómarsdóttir dance
Úlfur Eldjárn electronics (www.ulfureldjarn.com)
Ensemble Opera Diversa
conductor Gabriela Tardonová
The Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018) rose to fame at the end of his relatively short life as a composer of film music. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award, and won a Golden Globe for his score to The Theory of Everything. Albums of his music have been released by the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label since 2016. However, Jóhannsson’s early work is very interesting – a “concert sound installation” Virðulegu forsetar was performed from it at the Moravian Autumn 2023. This successful project will be followed by a performance of the music and dance work IBM 1401, a User’s Manual, which was inspired by the first ever computer imported to Iceland in 1964 and its ability to reproduce simple monophonic melodies. The main idea of the work is the idea of the computer as a personified device, distinctively guided through the close interplay of the expressive means of music and modern dance. The movement component will be provided by Erna Ómarsdóttir, the well-known Icelandic modern dance performer for whom the work was created; the musical part will be shared by Úlfur Eldjárn (electronics) and the Brno chamber orchestra Ensemble Opera Diversa under the baton of Gabriela Tardonová.