Classical Iceland
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Dark Music Days

Contemporary music in Reykjavík in the dark of winter, at the end of January. The Society of Icelandic Composers founded it in 1980.

Harpa above a snow-covered Arnarhóll, its glass front facing the harbour and mountains rising behind.
Photograph: Gary J. Wood · CC BY-SA 2.0

Myrkir músíkdagar, Dark Music Days, was founded by the Society of Icelandic Composers in 1980 so that Icelandic composers could hear their work performed. It is still a festival of contemporary music, above all new Icelandic music and Icelandic performers, with foreign works and players beside them, and an emphasis on premieres.

It is held in Reykjavík at the end of January, while the days are still short. Most of the concerts are in Harpa, in halls of every size from Eldborg down to Hörpuhorn, and others are in Hallgrímskirkja and elsewhere. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, CAPUT and Kammersveit Reykjavíkur are among its partners.

Valgerður G. Halldórsdóttir, the Society's managing director, runs the festival.

The 2027 festival is from 28 to 31 January, and the Iceland Symphony's concert in it is already on this site. Its own site is darkmusicdays.is.

Elsewhere on the site

Dark Music Days — Classical Iceland