Daníel Bjarnason

Daníel Bjarnason is one of Iceland’s foremost musical voices today, in demand as a conductor, composer and programmer. He is Artist in Collaboration with Iceland Symphony Orchestra, an appointment that follows his tenures as Principal Guest Conductor and Artist in Residence. Alongside commitments in Reykjavik, he regularly conducts such orchestras as Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lahti Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Toronto Symphony and Tokyo Symphony.

In the 2025-26 season Bjarnason conducted such orchestras as Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Arctic Philharmonic, Teatro Comunale de Bologna, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Helsinki Philharmonic. In summer 2026, Bjarnason united with fellow Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir to conduct the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in a retrospective of her works at the Reykjavik Art Festival and at Holland Festival.

In 2023 Bjarnason was named Guest Artist in Residence at Copenhagen Opera Festival, where a co-production of his opera, Brothers, was performed. Originally commissioned in 2017 by the Danish National Opera and directed by Kasper Holten, Brothers is based on the Susanne Bier film of the same name. Holten’s original production was also revived in Reykjavík by The Icelandic Opera in 2018, and subsequently opened Budapest’s 2019 Armel Opera Festival.

Bjarnason conducted the world premiere of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Last and First Men, a multimedia work narrated by Tilda Swinton, at the 2017 Manchester International Festival with BBC Philharmonic, and subsequently at the Barbican with the London Symphony Orchestra the following year. Bjarnason also conducted Iceland Symphony Orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon’s latest release of Jóhannsson’s music.

A recipient of numerous accolades, in 2018 he was awarded the Optimism prize by the President of Iceland, won the 8th Harpa Nordic Film Composers Award for the feature film Under the Tree, and was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. He also won Composer of the Year, Best Composer/Best Composition and Best Performer at the Icelandic Music Awards in recent years.

Bjarnason studied piano, composition and conducting in Reykjavík and pursued further studies in orchestral conducting at Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. He has released albums for several labels including Bedroom Community, Sono Luminus, Da Capo and Deutsche Grammophon.