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Born: January 25, 1942 - Reykjavik, Iceland
Died: October 21, 2009 - Reykjavík, Iceland |
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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 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 played an active role in the musical life in Iceland, both as a soloist and in the performance of chamber music. She performed not only in Iceland but also in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe as well as in the USA. She 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 was artistic director and performed in this festival since its founding. On these occasions she 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 was led by the violinist Jaap Schröder.
Helga Ingólfsdóttir 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.
Helga Ingólfsdóttir died at the National University Hospital of Iceland (Landspítalinn) in Reykjavík, Iceland. Her biography, Helguleikur, Saga Helgu Ingólfsdóttur og Sumartónleika í Skálholti, written by the Icelandic flautist Kolbeinn Bjarnason, was published in 2018 and received positive reviews |
