About Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson

Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson is a composer and conductor living in Reykjavík, Iceland, and working in the field of contemporary music making and composing. With nature as inspiration and using his adventure like narrative style as the foundation, he paints pictures with music. He has for the last six years worked with many choirs as a conductor and musical director both in Norway and Iceland, and has specialized in performing newly composed music.

Gísli Jóhann Grétarsson (b. 1983 in Akureyri, Iceland) started playing the classical guitar at the age of 7 at Akureyri Music school (Tónlistarskólinn á Akureyri). In 2006 he received his Bachelor in physics, and in 2007 he moved to Sweden to study composition at the LTU University in Sweden with prof. Jan Sandström. He received, in 2010, his BA diploma and later that same year he started his Masters in composition at LTU, which he finished in the spring of 2012. Gísli has studied guitar arrangements and composition with prof. Jan-Olof Eriksson, organ composition with prof. Hans-Ola Ericsson, choir conducting with prof. Erik Westberg, and orchestral conducting with prof. Petter Sundkvist. As his final exam in both his BA and MA studies he composed mini operas which he both conducted and produced.

His works ranges from operas, song cycles, choral music, orchestral works, ecclesiastical works and chamber music in all its various forms. The works have been performed throughout Scandinavia, Finland, Italy, Austria, Spain, France, Germany, USA and Iceland.