Performers & composers

Áskell Másson

Áskell Másson is amongst Iceland's leading composers. Born in Iceland in 1953, he began his musical studies on the clarinet, at the age of 8. Later he studied percussion at the Reykjavik College of Music. He studied composition, harmony and counterpoint with Patrick Savill and from 1975-1977 he studied percussion in London with James Blades.

Áskell has been quite prolific over the years. His work has been performed by orchestras such as the New York Philharmonica, the Cleveland Orchestra, the National Symphonic Orchestra in Washington D.C., the Royal Philharmonica Orchestra in London and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Among his most noted works are the opera The Ice Palace (by Tarjei Vesaas novel), Sinfonia trilogia, and six solo concertos.
Áskell's work is extremely varied. He has written orchestra music, concertos, solo pieces and chambermusic, for churches and singers, ballets and film scores as well as for several theatres pieces that have been performed on stage, radio and on television. He has created pieces for many world-renowned artists and his work has been performed in many places over Europe, USA, Australia and Asia. Áskell Másson has worked in Copenhagen, Stockholm, London and Paris, collaborating with such artists as Roger Woodward, Evelyn Glennie, Benny Sluchin, Gert Mortensen and Christian Lindberg.

From 1973 through 1975 he worked as composer and percussionist with the ballet corps of the National Theater of Iceland, prior to becoming a producer at the music department of the Icelandic Radio (1978 - 1983). Since 1983, Áskell Másson has devoted himself exclusively to composition, serving as Secretary-in-Chief of the Society of Icelandic Composers (1983 - 1985) and as President of the STEF (Society for artists royalities) until 1999.

Visit Askell's website at www.askellmasson.com

We have arrived

The dance-music work We have arrived is by coreographer Ólöf Ingólfsdóttir and composers/musicians Maja Ratkje and Áskell Másson.

The world keeps turning and we turn with it, caught in a constant flow of never ending motion. Everybody is busy going...where? Trying to reach....what? Is this what it´s all about? What is the purpose of all this trawelling?
Nothing has a meaning, yet everything is full of meaning. Right here, right now. We have arrived.

The piece is a close collaboration between all the performers as well as the choreographer and composers. The music is composed for voice, drums, double bass and percussion and is partially performed live on stage.