Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson


Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson is an Icelandic composer, performer and a founding member of S.L.Á.T.U.R., an experimental arts organization in Reykjavík. In his compositions he has developed a rhythmic language devoid of regular beat or metre, and he has created a new musical notation to represent his music.

Biography

Guðmundur Steinn was born in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1982. He studied at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, graduating in 2005, and then at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he gained an M.A. degree with a thesis entitled "An Approach to Rhythm". His teachers have included Atli Ingólfsson, Úlfar Haraldsson, Hilmar ór Arson and Hilmar Jensson in Iceland, and Alvin Curran, Fred Frith and John Bischoff at Mills College. He also attended Karlheinz Stockhausen’s courses in Kürten in 2004, went to the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 2008 and has had masterclasses with Helmut Lachenmann, Tristan Murail, Pauline Oliveros and Clarence Barlow.

Music

Guðmundur Steinn's musical style combines sound patterns without using a rigid rhythmic grid structure or pulse. This approach has led to the development of his animated notation, or , instead of using traditional musical scores. During the performance, the musicians follow specific instructions that move across a computer screen. This rhythmic language and animated notation and the structural methods he uses in composition were the subject of his M.A. thesis in Mills College. As Guðmundur Steinn explains, "By intently focusing on small differences, both in rhythm and pitch, the ear gets tuned to a microscopic mode of listening. When things then open up, a new sense of variety is gained."
Works have been performed at events in both Scandinavia and the USA, including the Reno Interdisciplinary Arts Festival, Music for People and Thingamajigs, U.N.M., Time of Music, Dark Music Days, Nordic Music Days, and Ung Nordisk Musik. Performers of his works have included Quartet San Francisco, The Zapolski Quartet Ensemble Adapter, Defun, Duo Harpverk, Shayna Dunkelmann, Tinna Þorsteinsdóttir, Quartet Opabinia, The Zapolski Quartet and Atón/Njútón. Guðmundur Steinn also participates in improvisatory performances, and has performed with Steve Hubback, Fred Frith, Andrew D'Angelo, Ad Peijnenburg, Hilmar Jensson and Skúli Sverrisson
Guðmundur Steinn is a founding member of the S.L.Á.T.U.R., an experimental composers collective in Iceland, and he is co-curator of the festival Sláturtíð. He also a co-curates the concert series Jaðarber'' at the Reykjavík Art Museum.

Awards

Guðmundur Steinn's works include:
All use Guðmundur Steinn's "animated notation" except Grafgata.