HIMA FACULTY
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR DIVISION
VIOLIN
Ari þór vilhjálmsson
Ari Þór Vilhjálmsson has been Principal Second Violin of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra since 2019. He previously held the same position with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in Finland. Born in Reykjavík in1981, he also worked with the Iceland Symphony for a number of years, and appeared as guest concertmaster with orchestras in Toulouse and Stockholm.
Ari taught at the Reykjavik College of Music from 2008-2014 and many of his former students are recent graduates from conservatories abroad. He has taught at the Sibelius Academy and continues to work with students in Israel and Iceland. Ari’s teachers include Mary Campbell, Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Rachel Barton Pine, Sibbi Bernhardsson and Almita and Roland Vamos.
Auður hafsteinsdóttir
One of Iceland’s leading performers and violin teachers, Auður is a graduate of the Reykjavík College of Music, the New England Conservatory and the University of Minnesota, where she received her Master’s degree as a student of the renowned Almita and Roland Vamos. Auður has appeared both as soloist and chamber musician in the U.S., Canada, Europe, China and Japan.
Auður has received many awards for her playing, she is a founding member of Trio Nordica and the Caput Ensemble. Her playing is featured on numerous labels such as Tutl, GM records and Naxos. Auður is a prominent teacher, many of her students have won competitions and gone on to study at respected conservatories abroad.
Guðný Guðmundsdóttir
Guðný Guðmundsdóttir was concertmaster of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra from 1974-2010. In over four decades of teaching, she has taught most of Iceland’s leading violinists at the Reykjavík College of Music and Iceland Arts University. Guðný started performing at the age of 7 and has played solo and chamber music concerts across the all around the world. She travels every year to teach at summer music festivals and teaches masterclasses at conservatories in the U.S. and Europe.
Guðný has recorded several albums and was awarded the Order of the Falcon in 1989 for her outstanding work in the field of music. After completing studies in Iceland her teachers included Caroll Glenn at Eastman and Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard School of Music.
SIF MARGRÉT TULINIUS
Sif was the Associate Concertmaster of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra from 2000 - 2016 and has performed extensivly throughout Europe with ensembles such as the Potsdamer Kammerakademie and the Berlin Philharmonic. She is an active performer of chamber music and of new music, and has premiered many works by Icelandic composers that have been written for her.
After graudating from the Reykjavik College of Music in 1991, she went on to complete a Master of Music degree in the U.S. Her teachers included Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Almita and Roland Vamos, Joyce Robbins and Joel Smirnoff. She currently resides in Iceland where she teaches at the Kópavogur music school and Iceland University of the Arts.
Sibbi
bernharðsson
Sibbi Bernhardsson is a professor of Violin at Oberlin Conservatory. He was previously a member of the Pacifica String Quartet for 17 years, playing more than 90 concerts a year in leading concert halls around the world. He received numerous honors with the quartet, including a Grammy Award.
Sibbi has collaborated with artists such as Menahem Pressler, Yo-Yo Ma, Leon Fleisher and the Emerson String Quartet. He gives regular concerts and masterclasses across the U.S., and in Europe and Asia. His teachers include Guðný Guðmundsdóttir, Almita and Roland Vamos, Matias Tacke and Shmuel Ashkenasi.
Judith ingólfsson
Judith Ingolfsson is a professor at the Peabody Institute at John Hopkins University in Baltimore.
She was born in Reykjavík and started studying the violin at the age of three. She was only eight years old when she recorded as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and a few weeks later made her first appearance on the international stage. At the age of fourteen, she moved to the United States and entered the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, where Jascha Brodsky was her teacher. Judith then earned her Master's Degree and Artists Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with David Cerone and Donald Weilerstein.
Judith has both won music competitions, been artist in residence and given concerts and recitals in many of the world's major concert halls. She has performed both as a soloist, in chamber ensembles and as a soloist with orchestras. Judith has also released a number of albums. She has been the artistic director of music series and festivals, including the French Aigues-Vives en Musiques academy and music festival, where she is the artistic director together with her husband, the renowned pianist Vladimir Stoupel.
Judith plays a Lorenzo Guadagnini violin, made in 1750, and a viola, made by Yair Hod Fainas.
VIOLA
ÁSDÍS VALDIMARSDÓTTIR
Ásdís is professor of viola and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. A native of Iceland, her musical education took her to the Juilliard School and later to Germany. She served as Principal Viola of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and was a member of the Miami, Chilingirian and Utrecht string quartets.
Ásdís has made many recordings, including the complete Beethoven string trios with the Brunsvik String Trio.
Her most recent album, "Stolen Schubert" came out in 2022 and includes her own transcriptions for viola of works by Schubert.
Ásdís is a qualified Body Mapping Educator; a method for preventing playing related injuries and solving them.
Þórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir
Þórunn Ósk Marínósdóttir is the Principal Vola of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels with Ervin Schiffer. Þórunn has performed as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, Prima la Musica and Sumida Triphony hall Orchestra in Tokyo.
Þórunn teaches viola and chamber music at the Reykjavík College of Music and Iceland Academy of the Arts. She is an active chamber musician, has been a part of many chamber music recordings and is a regular guest at chamber music festivals in Iceland. She is a founding member of the Siggi String Quartet which has been active since 2012 and has premiered many new Icelandic works.
Rita Porfiris
Rita Porfiris, violist has performed in major concert halls across the globe as a chamber musician, orchestral musician, and soloist. She is currently co-Principal viola of the Iceland Symphony, and was formerly Professor of Viola and Director of Chamber Music at The Hartt School. Other appointments included New York University, University of Houston, Rice University, Florida International University, and the Harlem School for the Arts. Ms. Porfiris is a member of QuartetES and the Miller-Porfiris Duo. She received Austria’s Prix Mercure, was a prize winner in the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, the Primrose International Viola Competition, and the Paolo Borciani International Quartet Competition. Playing with the Houston, Chicago, and Indianapolis Symphonies, she worked under some of the most recognized conductors of the 20-21 Centuries: Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Celibidache, Kurt Masur, Michael Tilson Thomas, Ricardo Muti, and Christoph Eschenbach.
CELLO
Sigurgeir Agnarsson
Sigurgeir Agnarsson is principal cellist of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He graduated from the Reykjavik College of Music in 1995 and continued his studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with David Wells and Laurence Lesser and at the Hochschule für Musik in Düsseldorf with Prof. Johannes Goritzki.
Sigurgeir is head of the string department at the Reykjavik College of Music. He has appeared as a soloist with ensembles such as the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Bochumer Symphoniker and the Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra and appears regularly as a chamber musician and recitalist in Iceland and abroad. He has recorded for the Icelandic Broadcasting Service and the Naxos label. Sigurgeir is one of the founders of the Harpa International Music Academy.
SIGURÐUR BJARKI GUNNARSSON
Sigurður Bjarki teaches cello and chamber music at the Iceland University of the Arts and has been a member of the Iceland Symphony since 2002. He has appeared as soloist with the Iceland Symphony and Reykjavik Chamber Orchestra and is a founding member of the Siggi String Quartet.
Sigurður graduated from the Reykjavik College of Music in 1995 and pursued further studies at the Manhattan School of Music with David Soyer and at the Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro. He regularly performs in chamber music recitals in Iceland and abroad.
DANIEL LEVITOV
Cellist and pedagogue Daniel Levitov maintains a vibrant career as a performer and educator. Levitov performs locally and nationally as a soloist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Recognized by the Baltimore Sun for his “warmth of tone and phrasing” and “expressive force,” he is a founding member of the Clipper Mill String Quartet and serves as a substitute cellist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Levitov is Associate Chair of Strings, Lower Strings and Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Institute Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He is the conductor of the Peabody Young Artists Orchestra (YAO). Levitov is also director of string ensembles at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. He has previously served as assistant professor of cello at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College. His students have been accepted to major conservatories such as Juilliard, Oberlin, the Cleveland Institute, and the Manhattan School of Music. Levitov gives masterclasses and workshops across the country, has published in Strings and Strad Magazine, and presents at the American String Teacher’s Association (ASTA) National Conferences. Levitov holds degrees from the City University of New York. the Oberlin Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music, where he received the Janet Schenk award for distinguished service.
Toke Møldrup
Toke Møldrup is Associate professor and department coordinator at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and former principal cellist of the Copenhagen Philharmony. He studied at the Jyske Musikkonservatorium and the Royal Danish Academy of Music where he trained as a soloist. He graduated in 2005 and has since then been teaching at the Academy. He has taught courses and masterclasses in Scandinavia and Europe.
Toke Møldrup has performed many times as a soloist with Danish and international symphony orchestras. He has performed as a soloist and as a member of ensambles and chamber groups in many festivals all over Europe.
PIANISTS
Guðrún Dalía salómonsdóttir
Guðrún Dalía studied piano at the Conservatory of Music in Reykjavík, the University of Music in Stuttgart and in Paris. She has given numerous concerts, both domestically and abroad, as a soloist and in various instrumental groups, and not least as an accompanist for singers. Guðrún has received numerous grants and awards, including 1st prize in the EPTA piano competition in Salnum. CDs have been released with her playing with songs by Jórunn Viðar and Karl O. Runólfsson. Guðrún Dalía works as an accompanist at Garðabær's Music School.
vladimir stoupel
Vladimir Stoupel is a conductor and pianist. He has performed as a soloist worldwide, e.g. with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Staatskapelle Mainz, Wheeling Symphony, Lancaster Symphony and Lake Placid Sinfonietta. He has collaborated with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Michail Jurowski, Leopold Hager, Marek Janowski, Steven Sloane, Stefan Malzew, Patrik Ringborg, and Günther Neuhold.
Vladimir Stoupel has appeared on many of the world’s notable stages, including Berlin’s Philharmonie and Konzerthaus, Avery Fisher Hall in New York, Hamburg’s Grosse Musikhalle, and Dortmund’s Konzerthaus, to name just a few. Festival appearances include the renowned Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Piano en Valois (France), Brandenburgische Sommerkonzerte (Germany), Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo and the Helsinki Festival. Together with the violinist Judith Ingolfsson he is a co-artistic director and founder of the international festival Aigues-Vives en Musiques (France) as well as co-artistic director of the international festival The Last Rose Of Summer in Berlin. His discography is extensive for which he has received nominations and won prestigious awards.
Vladimir Stoupel regularly conducts chamber operas at Konzerthaus Berlin and works with a number of orchestras and chamber groups.
A French citizen since 1985, Vladimir Stoupel currently makes his home in Berlin. In 2022 he was awarded a French Order "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres".
Þóra kristín gunnarsdóttir
Þóra Kristín Gunnarsdóttir has performed at music festivals and concerts all over Switzerland and Iceland. In Iceland, she has performed at various recitals and chamber music concerts and festivals e.g. music festivals Reykholt Chamber Music Festival and Seigla Chamber Music Festival. She works mainly with accompaniment and chamber music, but in 2021 she also performed as a soloist with ZHdK Strings in Switzerland and in Harpa in Reykjavík, as well as taking part in a Beethoven concert series in Salnum in Kópavogur. In Switzerland, she has performed, e.g. at the music festival Chesa Planta Musiktage and at a concert organized by Liedrezital Zürich. For the past four summers, she has been an accompanist in masterclass courses for singers in France. Þóra began her music studies in Akureyri with Dýrleifa Bjarnadóttir and later studied with Peter Máté at the Music School in Reykjavík. She completed a master's degree in piano teaching and piano performance with a minor in chamber music from the Lucerne University of Music in 2017. In 2020, she completed a second master's degree in chamber music and accompaniment from the Zurich University of the Arts, where her main teacher was pianist Friedemann Rieger. She also attended regular classes there with, among others, Christoph Berner and Eckart Heiligers. She has attended master class courses at, among others Thomas Hampson, Joseph Breinl and Ewa Kupiec. Þóra works as an accompanist at the High School of Music and the Hafnarfjörður Conservatory.
JUNIOR DIVISION
VIOLIN
Gróa Margrét Valdimarsdóttir
Violinist Gróa Margrét Valdimarsdóttir is Head Teacher of HIMA’s Junior Division. She graduated with a B. Mus degree in violin performance from the Iceland Academy of the Arts under the supervision of Auðar Hafsteinsdóttir in 2006. After completing her studies at the Academy of Arts, she went to Germany and then to the United States where she completed her M. Mus degree in violin performance from the University of Illinois under the guidance of Sigurbjörn Bernhardsson. She then studied at The Hartt School with Anton Miller and graduated in 2011 with a Graduate Professional Diploma and Artist Diploma in the spring of 2013. Gróa Margrét has also completed Level 5 in Suzuki Teacher Training with Lilja Hjaltadóttir and currently works as a Suzuki teacher and principal at Allegro Suzuki Music School.
Gróa Margrét has performed as a soloist with various orchestras, including the Foot in the Door Contemporary Ensemble, the Youth Symphony Orchestra, the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Hartt Collegium Musicum.
Gróa is an enthusiast for performing new music and several works have been dedicated to her, including Benjamin Park's Violin Concerto, which she premiered in 2013 with the Foot in the Door Contemporary Ensemble. She is also one of the two artistic directors of the contemporary music festival New Music for Strings in Iceland. Gróa Margrét also has a great interest and ambition for the original performance of baroque music and regularly performs in concerts with orchestras such as the Brák Baroque Band and the Reykjavík International Baroque Orchestra and smaller chamber groups. Gróa Margrét also plays regularly with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the North Iceland Symphony Orchestra, as well as other orchestras.
helga steinunn torfadóttir
Helga Steinunn began playing the violin at the age of 9 and studied with Lilja Hjaltadóttir and Guðný Guðmundsdóttir. She attended the Royal Danish Academy of Music from 1995-1998 as a student of Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider. She trained as a Suzuki teacher with Tove Detreköy, Lilja Hjaltadóttir and Jaenne Janssens. Helga teaches at the Allegro Suzuki school and the Reykjavík Suzuki school.
Kristín björg ragnarsdóttir
Kristín Björg is a violin teacher at Garðabær's Music School and is also the director of the school's string ensemble. She teaches both young children and advanced students and is fully trained in the Suzuki method. She has been active in Icelandic music and plays regularly with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera Orchestra.
Kristín started playing the violin at the age of 8 and studied with Hlíf Sigurjónsdóttir and Guðnýja Guðmundsdóttir. She then went to graduate school in New York with Gerald Beal and Masao Kawasaki. She completed her master's degree in 2004 and then moved to Belgium, where she worked, among other things. with Die Filharmonie Antwerpen.
Lilja Hjaltadóttir
Lilja Hjaltadóttir is assistant principal of the Allegro Suzuki School in Reykjavík and the most experienced Suzuki teacher in Iceland. She graduated from the Reykjavík College of Music and completed a master’s degree from Souther Illinois University in Edwardsville in 1981. Her main teacher was John Kendall, the leading Suzuki pedagogue in the U.S.
Lilja trains Suzuki teachers in Iceland and abroad, and travels regularly to teach all over Europe.
CELLO
Örnólfur Kristjánsson
Örnólfur Kristjánsson studied with Gunnar Kvaran at The Reykjavik College of music and later in New York with Channing Robbins, Paul Tobias and Timothy Eddy. As well as being a very active cellist he has been much engaged in teaching children by the Suzuki method for the last 40 years. The Suzuki method has he learn from Haukur F. Hanneson and Ruben Rivera.
PIANIST
BRYNHILDUR ÁSGEIRSDÓTTIR
Brynhildur Ásgeirsdóttir works as a pianoteacher and accompanist at the Allegro Suzuki Music School and the Kópavogur Music School. She studied at the Reykjavík School of Music and completed her studies under the guidance of Jónas Ingimundarson. She pursued postgraduate studies at the Utrecht Conservatorium and the Amsterdam Conservatorioum in the Netherland. She has been an accompanist with singing and instrumental students and has worked with choirs including the Hallgrímskirkja Motet Choir and the Philharmonic Choir. Brynhildur has full qualifications as Piano Suzuki Teacher, and teaches students at all levels.
Anna Hugadóttir
Anna Hugadóttir studied violin and viola at Tónskóli Sigursveins. She studied viola with Gisella Bergman at the Fontys Conservatorium in the Netherlands and graduated with a B.Mus in viola and string teaching in 2006. In 2015-2016 and 2017-2018, Anna studied orchestral and choral conducting at the Norges Musikkhøgskole in Oslo and in 2021 she earned her master's degree in vocal and instrumental teaching from the Iceland Academy of the Arts. Anna has had a varied carrier both as a player and music teacher. She has taught violin and viola, chamber music and conducted string ensembles at music schools and festivals in the Netherlands, Norway, Greenland and Iceland. She is currently employed at Tónskóli Sigursveins as a music teacher and conductor. As a freelance musician, Anna has worked with a number of musicians and artists both domestically and internationally. Anna has attended numerous courses in instrumental performance and string teaching with a special focus on historically informed performance practise. She is one of the founding members of the Ensemble ReykjavíkBarokk (2012) and has led projects for the chamber group since 2021.
YOUNG ARTISTS
Hafrún Birna Björnsdóttir
Hafrún Birna Björnsdóttir ispursuing a master's degree on the viola at the Sibelius Academy under the tutelage of Atte Kilpeläinen and Helge Valtonen. She completed an advanced diploma in violin from MÍT and a B.Mus. in viola from the Iceland University of the Arts in the spring of 2024, under the guidance of Þórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir, having undertaken an exchange year at the Sibelius Academy during her third year. Hafrún has performed with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, NYKY Ensemble, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and the Icelandic Opera, and received an internship position with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in the autumn of 2025. Under the artist name SPÍRA, Hafrún plans to release an album this spring featuring improvisations for viola and looper pedal, which she worked on in the Arts Groups of The House (Listhópar Hins hússins) during the summer of 2024. She has participated in diverse collaborative projects, including with the charity organization Hyvin Voimin Ry, to bring classical music to underserved audiences. Hafrún is also a founding member of the Norwegian-Icelandic group Stundaróms, which works with the music of nations and recently organized children's concerts in Iceland and Norway. Additionally, she has performed at festivals such as Seigla and Opera Days and participated in numerous recording
Herdís Mjöll Guðmundsdóttir
Herdís Mjöll Guðmundsdóttir was born and raised in Reykjavík. She began her violin studies at the age of five with Lilja Hjaltadóttir at the Allegro Suzuki School in Reykjavík and later studied with Guðný Guðmundsdóttir and also Sigrún Eðvaldsdóttir. She graduated from the Iceland University of the Arts in 2017 before moving to the United States to pursue undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory under the guidance of Sibbi Bernharðsson. Herdís holds a master's degree from the Yale School of Music, where she studied in the studio of Augustin Hadelich.
She began her work with the Minnesota Orchestra in the fall of 2025 in the 2nd Violin section. Previously, she was a member and concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and has regularly substituted in both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. She served as concertmaster of the Yale Philharmonia and was a member of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble in the summers of 2023 and 2024. Herdís has a strong interest in performing contemporary music and has premiered numerous new works, both as a soloist and in collaboration with groups such as the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, New Music New Haven, Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, Elju Chamber Orchestra, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. As an active chamber musician, Herdís regularly performs in her hometown, Reykjavík. Herdís has also performed as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra after winning the orchestra's concerto competition for young musicians. She has had the honor of being a scholarship recipient of the Jean-Pierre Jacquillat Memorial Fund and the Anna Nordal and Ingjaldur Fund during her studies. Herdís was also one of the scholarship recipients of the American-Scandinavian Association in New York.
Katrín Birna Sigurðardóttir
Katrín Birna Sigurðardóttir was born in 2002 and began her cello studies at the age of 5 in Selfoss at the Árnesinga Music School with Pawel Panasiuk and later with Uelle Hahndorf. She completed her advanced diploma there in the spring of 2021 and then moved to Denmark. She then began her bachelor's studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus with Henrik Brendstrup and will graduate this summer with a master's degree from the same school.
Katrín was a leader in the Youth Orchestra of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 2019 and has participated in various projects with the South Iceland Symphony Orchestra. In her first year in Aarhus, she won the school's concerto competition and was given the opportunity to perform as a soloist with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra. She has performed solo with the string orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and received a talent award from the Friends of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. In April 2025, Katrín performed as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra as one of the winners of Young Soloists.
Alongside her studies, Katrín has performed at various music festivals and regularly plays with the chamber orchestra in Randers.