Edda Erlendsdóttir, Piano
Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, the French-Icelandic pianist Edda Erlendsdóttir studied at the Music College of Reykjavik and at the Conservatoire National Superieur de de Musique de Paris with Pierre Sancan. She also studied with Marie Françoise Bucquet. In 1990 she became Laureate of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation in Paris.
Edda Erlendsdóttir has given numerous concerts and participated in important festivals in Iceland, France and most European countries. She has been on concert tours in the United States, Russia, Ukrania and in China. She has played piano solos with orchestras conducted by Leif Segerstam, Larry Newland, Petri Sakari and recently with Kurt Kopecky.
Her repertoire spans the first works written for the pianoforte through contemporary works and she has premiered several pieces specially written for her. She is particularly devoted to composers such as C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg.
Her passion for chamber music led her to be the founder and artistic director for fifteen years of the chamber music festival in Kirkjubaejarklaustur, south east Iceland.
She plays with many ensembles including Tempo di Tango which features six classical musicians and bandoneon player Olivier Manoury.
Edda Erlendsdóttir has recorded many programs for radio and television, including several recitals broadcast directly on radio France Musique and the Icelandic national radio.
She has published recordings of piano music by C.P.E. Bach, Edvard Grieg, Haydn, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Schönberg and Berg. Her last CD of Haydn Concerti, featuring the Icelandic National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kurt Kopecky obtained the Icelandic Music Award in year 2010.
Besides her career as a soloist and as a chamber music performer Edda Erlendsdottir is piano teacher in the National Conservatory of Versailles.
