From Iceland — You should have read this music news
Published January 12, 2023
Artist salaries announced for 2023
Last month, a list of artists who are to receive the coveted ‘artists’ salary’ grant from the Icelandic government was published. The grants are awarded to musicians as well as writers, designers and other artists to work on special projects. Among the musicians who were successful in their applications this year are tenor saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson (12-month grant), opera singer Björk Nielsdóttir (9 months) and flutist Björg Brjánsdóttir (8 months). There are also some Grapevine darlings on the list; Árný Margrét, an aspiring acoustic singer, received 6 months’ salary, as did the piano hero Magnús Jóhann and the beloved folk song writer Svavar Knútur. The most exciting thing about this news is that it pretty much guarantees that we’ll be hearing new music from all of these artists soon! JG
Icelandic artists to claim awards
Icelandic musician Björk and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir are both set to receive major awards in the coming weeks. Björk has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Alternative Music Album for her latest release, “Fossora”, which deals with themes such as motherhood and loss. This is Bjarkar’s 16th Grammy nomination, but she has yet to take home the award. At the same time, Hildur Guðnadóttir has been nominated for a Golden Globe in the category for best original music for her work on the film “Women Talking”. Hildur won in the same category in 2020 for her work on the movie “Joker”. Winners will be announced on January 10 for the Golden Globe Awards and on February 5 for the Grammy Awards. The Grapevine is keeping its fingers crossed for both Björk and Hildi! IZ
The Kraums Prize
The Kraumspræður has once again been recognized for the best albums that have been released in Iceland, or by Icelandic artists. This year, the Braintrust Kraumur music fund recognized the talent shown by Final Boss Type ZERO in “1000 cuts”, gugusar in “12:48”, KUSK in “Skaldur”, Kvikindi in “Ungfrú Ísland”, Oh Mama in “Hamraborg”, and Una Torfa in “Tangled and Lost and Lonely”. Be sure to keep an eye on them because we have a feeling they’re going far. Congratulations everyone! KW