Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir er fædd í Kaupmannahöfn en ólst upp í Reykjavík. Hún nam fiðluleik hjá Birni Ólafssyni konsertmeistara við Tónlistarskólann í Reykjavík og fór síðar til framhaldsnáms við Háskólana í Indiana og Toronto og Listaskólann í Banff. Einnig nam hún hjá Gerald Beal fiðluleikara í New York borg. Á námsárum sínum kynntist hún og vann með mörgum merkustu tónlistarmönnum tuttugustu aldarinnar, þar á meðal William Primrose, Zoltan Szekely, György Sebök, Rucciero Ricci og Igor Oistrach.
    Hlíf hefur haldið fjölda einleikstónleika og leikið með sinfóníuhljómsveitum og kammersveitum víða um Evrópu, í Bandaríkjunum og Kanada. Hún hefur frumflutt mörg tónverk sem samin hafa verið sérstaklega fyrir hana og árið 2008 kom út tvöfaldur geisladiskur með leik hennar á öllum þremur sónötum og þremur partítum eftir Johann Sebastian Bach. Síðastliðinn vetur lék hún röð 6 einleikstónleika í kirkjum Suður-Þingeyjarsýslu til að minnast 150 ára fiðluleiks í sýslunni.

Joshua Pierce ólst upp í New York borg og nam við Juilliard Tónlistarskólann og síðar Tónlistarháskólann í Cleveland, Ohio. Aðalkennari var Dorothy Taubman, en hann sótti einnig tíma hjá Bernard Greenhouse, Joseph Seiger og Artur Balsam. Hann hefur komið fram sem einleikari í helstu tónleikasölum heims meðal annars með Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonia, Rússnesku sinfóníuhljómsveitinni, Moskvu Fílharmoníusveitinni, Sinfóníuhljómsveit útvarpsins í Berlín og Sinfóníuhljómsveit tékkneska útvarpsins.
    Hann hefur hljóðritað um 200 tónverk fyrir útgáfur á borð við EMI Classics, Koch International Classics, MMC, MSR Classics, Pro Arts, Sony Classics, Vox. Um tuttugu ára skeið vann hann náið með tónskáldinu John Cage og hljóðritaði píanóverk hans, m.a. fyrir Wergo útgáfuna í Þýskalandi sem hann hlaut mikið lof fyrir. Hann hefur á þriðja áratug leikið í píanódúói með Dorothy Jonas, m.a. fyrir bresku konungsfjölskylduna.
    Joshua hefur hlotið fjölda viðurkenninga fyrir leik sinn, þar á meðal Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, og verið tilnefndur til Grammy verðlauna.

Ath. enska lífshlaup Joshua, hér að neðan, er mun ítarlegra en þetta og á heimasíðum Hlífar og Joshua má nálgast aðra útgáfu af æviágripi þeirra, ljósmyndir o.fl.

Sigurjón Ólafsson Museum, Reykjavík Tuesday evening, August 27th and Sunday evening, September 1st at 20:30 Admission ISK 2000 - at the entrance. Credit cards accepted

Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir and Joshua Pierce

A PDF version of the program Further informations gives Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir tel: 863 6805 Where is the Museum?

Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir was born in Denmark, of a Danish mother and Icelandic father, and grew up in Iceland. Upon graduation from the Reykjavík College of Music, she furthered her violin studies at the Universities of Indiana and Toronto where her teachers were Franco Gulli and Lorand Fenyves, and the Banff School of Fine Arts. Later she took private lessons in New York from the renowned violinist and teacher Gerald Beal.
    She has been fortunate over time, to work with many of the leading musicians of the twentieth century, including William Primrose, Janos Starker, Rucciero Ricci, Igor Oistrach, György Sebok and the members of the Hungarian quartet. Hlíf has given numerous concerts both as a soloist and with various ensembles and orchestras. A critically acclaimed 2-CD set of her playing the Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by J.S. Bach was released in 2008. Last winter she gave a series of six solo-concerts in churches in North Iceland as a tribute to 150 years of violin playing in that district.

Grammy nominated pianist Joshua Pierce has performed in prestigious music centers throughout the world as a soloist and with an extraordinary array of orchestras including The Royal Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Moscow State Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has recorded more than 200 works including numerous world premieres as a soloist and with orchestra for EMI Classics, Carlton Classics, Helicon, Koch International Classics, MMC, MSR Classics, Pro Arts, Sony Classics, Vox and other labels.
    His landmark series of recordings of John Cage's music on the Wergo label has earned him tremendous acclaim worldwide. His 30-year collaboration with the pianist Dorothy Jonas, as part of the two-piano team, Pierce & Jonas, has resulted in numerous acclaimed recordings and performances, including a command performance with the The Philharmonia for England's Royal Family. Highly regarded as a chamber music collaborator, Mr. Pierce studied with the cellists Bernard Greenhouse of the Beaux Arts Trio and Jascha Silberstein, formerly of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as well as with the pianists Artur Balsam and Joseph Zeiger. He has performed with Russia's Leontovich String Quartet, the Pierce-Aomori Clarinet & Piano Duo, Chamber Players International and with violinist Julianne Klopotic and Misha Vitenson, cellist Jeffrey Solow and Lawrence Zoernig.
    Mr. Pierce has been a judge for many piano competitions and has served on the Board of the International Fulbright Foundation. He is a winner of the German Music Critics Prize, Fono Forum award, Diapason Award, Grand Prize of the IBLA International Competition for Contemporary Music and a nominee for the 23rd International Franz Liszt Grand Prix du Disque Prize of Hungary. In 2012, Mr. Pierce received two PSC-CUNY Research Award Grants as well as a major award from the Aaron Copland Fund For Music, Inc. He has performed at most of the major concert venues and series in New York City, including Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Steinway Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Roulette, The Kitchen, The Knitting Factory and Weill Recital Hall. He has performed at the Music Mountain Chamber Music Festival, CT as well as at the Phillips Collection, Washington DC. Read his complete bio at http://www.jamesarts.com/pierce/bio.html

Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir's and Joshua Pierce's  home pages include more informations on the musicians.