The Icelandic talent featured in this festival includes Gunnar Karel Másson, Kristinn Evertsson, Haukur Þór Harðarson, Viktor Orri Arnarson, Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Asgeir Adalsteinsson and Swedish-born Petter Ekman.

The most prominent feature of the festival are eight concerts that showcase the best new compositions of young composers in the Nordic region, with a stonking 35 new works being performed all around Reykjavík and in Skálholt (in the south of Iceland) with concerts, lectures and workshops, open for all and free of charge.

The programme includes a concert dedicated to the music of UNM 2012 guest composer Klaus Lang, with a performance of his hour-long work Einfalt.stille, and a collaborative concert with the Reykjavík Art Museum’s concert series, Jaðarber. The final concert will take place in Harpa’s Norðurljós recital hall with a performance by the celebrated CAPUT sinfonietta.

The festival has been held annually since 1946 as a collaboration between the Nordic countries, taking turns in hosting the festival each year, so the festival is held in Iceland every five years. Seven composers from each of the five countries partake in the festival, chosen after an open-call for compositions, to present their music and talent, work with musicians and attend lectures and seminars on music.

This year’s festival is dedicated to Music Innovation where Lectures and Workshops on the topic of innovation in instrumentation and performance are held during the festival, in close collaboration with LornaLAB, Reykjavík Art Museum, Jaðarber – concert series and the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Among lecturers on Music Innovation are visual artists, composers, musicologist and instrument makers.

Further information can be found on http://unm.is/