Iceland Symphony Orchestra

Sinfóníuhljómsveit Íslands (Iceland Symphony Orchestra) (ISO) is an Icelandic orchestra based in Reykjavík. The ISO is an autonomous public institution under the auspices of the Icelandic Ministry of Education. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra made its home in Háskólabíó (University Cinema) from 1961–2011, but moved into the new 1800-seat Harpa (Reykjavík Concert and Conference Center) in spring 2011. The orchestra gives approximately sixty concerts each season. Per a 1982 law (changed in 2007), the ISO's primary financial sources are the Icelandic treasury (82%) and the City of Reykjavik (18%).

The first known instance of an orchestra concert in Iceland was on May 22, 1921 when a group of 20 jobbing musicians played for King Christian X of Denmark who was on official visit in the country. The same basic group and its conductor, composer Þórarinn Guðmundsson, became the founding members of an official orchestra, The Reykjavík Orchestra (Hljómsveit Reykjavíkur; RO), in the same year. The RO remained virtually the only functional orchestra in Iceland until the founding of the ISO in 1950. Among the highpoints of The RO’s operating time was a celebration in Þingvellir on the occasion of the 1000-year-anniversary of the Icelandic national Parliament in 1930, which saw the premiere of several compositions by Icelandic composers.

Among other steps toward the foundation of ISO was the foundation of the Reykjavík Music School (Tónlistarskóli Reykjavíkur) in 1930 and the foundation of The Icelandic Federation of Musicians (Félag íslenskra hljóðfæraleikara, later renamed Félag íslenskra hljómlistarmanna; FÍH) in 1939, which became the most influential trade union of musicians in Iceland during the 20th century. Several reputable Icelandic musicians, composers and music enthusiasts wrote articles in local newspapers during this period where Iceland’s primitive state of musical culture was reprimanded, most notably Jón Leifs (1899-1968), composer and conductor, who had studied at the Leipzig Conservatory during World War I. Leifs emphasized the inevitable need of a decent symphony orchestra lest Iceland should lag behind other civilized countries. Furthermore, the growing music industry was stimulated by a handful of European musicians who came to live and work in Iceland during the first half of the century. Among the most influential were Franz Mixa (1902-1994), Victor Urbancic (1903-1958) and Wilhelm Lanzky-Otto (1909-1991).

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