Jónas Þórir

An Icelandic organist, born in 1956. He first studied the organ with Marteinn H. Friðriksson and later with Hörður Áskelsson and Björn Steinar Sólbergsson, and took his cantor's diploma from the National Church School of Music. He also holds a diploma in music teaching, studied the piano with Halldór Haraldsson and composition with Atli Heimir Sveinsson, and went on to further study of the organ with Karsten Askeland in Bergen, Norway. He has been organist of Bústaðakirkja in Reykjavík for many years, directs its chamber choir, Kammerkór Bústaðakirkju, and has previously conducted the parish choirs of Laugarneskirkja and Lágafellskirkja and the Freemasons' Choir. He is in demand as an accompanist for singers, has written and arranged a good deal of choral music, and in Bústaðakirkja he runs Bleikur október, a series of Wednesday lunchtime concerts in support of Ljósið, the cancer rehabilitation centre.