Iceland Symphony Orchestra

 


There is an extraordinary thing in the middle of the Atlantic - a world class Symphony Orchestra made up almost exclusively from the island's 372,520 inhabitants (2021).

We are talking about Icelend of course.

How does this come about? we asked. 'Team work' was the answer. The same as with the national football team. You may remember they were the smallest nation by population to ever clinch a FIFA berth. Their record includes defeats of The Netherlands and of course England.

So it is with the orchestra. They even have a world-class concert hall in Reykjavik, the 'Harpa.' built it is said with finance from the Chinese in exchange for Icelandic expertise in Geothermal Energy.

PS. In a press interview some years ago, Gennady Rozhdestvensky joked that the further North you go, the better the orchestras and speculated that by this measure the Iceland Symphony Orchestra must be the best in the world. This was picked up by the manager of the orchestra who then invited Gennady to come and conduct them. This he did on more than one occasion and with great pleasure.





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