Gísli Magnússon

Gísli Magnússon is a composer and music theory teacher from Reykjavík, Iceland. He studied composition at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and later at Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he finished his master's studies in 2017. His main composition teacher's were Gunnar A. Kristinsson, Hróðmar I. Sigurbjörnsson, Atli Ingólfsson, Joël Bons, Willem Jeths and Wim Henderickx.

In his music, Gísli frequently seeks inspiration in the nature of his home country, Iceland, and in some of his works he deliberately depicts natural phenomena, such as waterfalls, lava-fields, and geysers. A recurring element in Gísli’s music is diverse and colourful sound textures which he creates by combining various instrumental effects and extended techniques.

Gísli has participated in various workshops and festivals, including Dark Music Days (Iceland), Ung Nordisk Musik (Sweden and Norway) and Musiikin Aika (Finland), were he had composition lessons with Kaija Saariaho in the summer of 2019. In 2017, Gísli was selected for Yrkja, a workshop for young composers with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, which led to the premiere of his piece Akvocirkulado on Dark Music Days, in January 2018. Gísli’s compositions have been performed by various musicians and ensembles in Iceland, Scandinavia and the Netherlands, including Duo Harpverk, Ensemble neoN, Score Collective, Elja Ensemble, Sjøforsvarets musikkorps, Uusinta Ensemble and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.