Ólafur Arnalds

Born 1986 in the suburban Icelandic town of Mosfellsbær, a few kilometers outside of Reykjavík, composer/performer Ólafur Arnalds has always enjoyed pushing boundaries with both his studio work and live-shows. Since the release of his debut album Eulogy for Evolution in 2007 he has built up a dedicated international following and is well established for his genre-crossing compositions blending classical, pop and ambient/electronica influences to a unique musical language.

Starting out as drummer for several hardcore/metal bands, Ólafur was asked to write instrumental intros and outros for the album Antigone of German metal band Heaven Shall Burn. This led to more work in the field of neo-classical strings and piano-based music, and ultimately to the release of Eulogy for Evolution and the beginning of Ólafur's partnership with Berlin based label Erased Tapes. In 2008 he embarked on a tour with fellow Icelanders Sigur Rós.

His third album, and the first to be released under his new partnership with Universal Music's Mercury Classics imprint, is titled For Now I Am Winter and planned for international release in February 2013. Expanding on his previous work the new album features a full orchestra and – for the first time – introduces vocals to his soundworld.

More recently Ólafur has been venturing into the world of films, writing his first Hollywood film score to Another Happy Day. He also had music in the hit film The Hunger Games and has been featured several times on popular American television show So You Think You Can Dance.

For this Manchester concert - his first here since a triumphant performance with the RNCM Symphony Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall in 2010 - Ólafur will perform on a grand piano, accompanied by a string quartet, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.

Support comes from new Erased Tapes artist Douglas Dare.

Price: £15 adv
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