Stefán Arason
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Stefán Arason is an Icelandic composer, born in Neskaupstaður on the east coast of Iceland on June 27, 1978.
Stefán started studying the piano at the age of seven, later adding various other instruments to his studies. In 1996 he moved to Reykjavík and continued his study of the piano at the Reykjavik College of Music, but in 1998 he moved away from the piano and started focusing on the more challenging work of composing his own music. He studied composition with Tryggvi M. Baldvinsson, from 1998 to 2000, and Hilmar Þórðarson from 2000 to 2001, graduating with a diploma in Music Theory and Composition in the spring of 2001.
In 2001 he entered composition classes at the Royal Academy of Music, in Århus, Denmark where he studied with Karl Aage Rasmussen, Bent Sørensen and Hans Gefors, graduating in the spring of 2004.
Stefán's most recognized works to date include "10-11", a piece awarded the European componist prize in 2001, 5 poems about the night, written to a text by Icelandic poet Sigurður Pálsson (recorded on the CD "Livets Bro" with the Århus Universy choir) and "Hvil sødt", a piece for mixed choir, mezzosoprano, boys choir, organ, string quintet and percussion, requested by the cathedral in Århus.
