Born: Reykjavik, Iceland

The Icelandic harpsichordist, Helga Ingólfsdóttir, studied under Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson at the Reykjavik College of Music and graduated as a pianist. She continued her studies in Germany, specialising in the harpsichord under Hedwig Bilgram, and graduated with a soloist diploma from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Munich. In addition, she has participated in various master-classes on harpsichord playing and the interpretation of Baroque music with, among others, Kenneth Gilbert, Gustav Leonhardt, Jill Severs, and Jesper Bøje Christensen.

Helga Ingólfsdóttir has played an active role in the musical life in Iceland, both as a soloist and in the performance of chamber music. She has performed not only in Iceland but also in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe as well as in the USA. She has made several recordings, including for the state radios of Iceland, Norway and Holland. In addition, she teaches harpsichord playing and the interpretation of Baroque music at the Reykjavik College of Music.

Helga Ingólfsdóttir was the instigator for the founding in 1975 of the Skálholt Summer Concerts, held annually in the church at Skálholt, and has been artistic director and performed in this festival since its founding. On these occasions she has premiered many Icelandic works written especially fur her. In 1986 she founded the Skálholt Bach Consort in connection with the festival, the only group in Iceland that performs Baroque music on authentic instruments. In recent years the Consort has been led by the violinist Jaap Schröder.

Helga Ingólfsdóttir has received various awards in recognition of her work, among others the Cultural Award presented by the DV newspaper (in Iceland) in 1980 and 1994 and the Brøste Optimist Prize awarded in Denmark in 1994. In 1996-1999 she was the recipient of an artist's stipend from the Icelandic Ministry of Education, Science and Culture to work on projects connected with the Skálholt Summer Concerts and to record works by J.S. Bach.

Source: Liner notes to the album ' J.S. Bach: Goldbergtibrigðin · Goldberg Variations BWV 988', played by Helga Ingólfsdóttir (AC Classics, 2000)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (October 2006)

Helga Ingólfsdóttir: Short Biography | Recordings of Non-Vocal Works
Reviews of Non-Vocal Recordings: Helga Ingolfsdottir’s Goldberg Variations

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Sumartónleikar í Skálholti: Helga Ingólfsdóttir

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