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Description
Cantoque Ensemble is an Icelandic vocal ensemble of 8–12 professional singers, whose members have performed at the Icelandic Opera as well as internationally, and have collaborated with leading orchestras. Several of its members have been nominated for Singer of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards. The ensemble was founded in 2017, and its debut project involved collaborations with Nordic Baroque orchestras, performing in Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden. In the following years, their programs have included new arrangements of Icelandic folk songs, Bach cantatas, and large-scale works such as the St. John Passion. The ensemble has also performed contemporary Icelandic choral music and participated in numerous festivals in Iceland and across Europe.
Collaborative projects with Danish and Finnish ensembles have taken them abroad and garnered multiple nominations at the Icelandic Music Awards. In recent years, the ensemble has presented composer-focused concerts featuring Icelandic composers, performed at festivals such as Dark Music Days, and engaged in international collaborations in Switzerland, France, and Germany. In 2025, the ensemble participated in summer festivals in Iceland, dedicating a concert to Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday.
In their programme “Við svala lind” (“On the Shore of a Cool Spring”), the choir will perform pieces by contemporary Icelandic composers.
Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson
– Upphaf (Beginning)
Hildigunnur Rúnarsdóttir
– Vorlauf (Spring)
Atli Heimir Ingólfsson
– Við svala lind (On the Shore of a Cool Spring)
– Sem dökkur logi (Like a Dark Flame)
Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson
– Kvöldbænir (Evening Prayers)
Tryggvi Baldvinsson
– Kvöldvers (Evensong)
Hugi Guðmundsson
– Hvíld (Rest)
Steingrímur Þórhallsson
– Ung móðir (Young Mother)
Jón Nordal
– Heilræðavísa (Wise Counsel)
Þjóðvísa (Folk song), arr. Anna Þorvaldsdóttir
– Heyr þú oss himnum á (Hear Us, Heavens Above)
Fjögur þjóðlög (Four folk songs), arr. Hafliði Hallgrímsson
– Nú vil ég enn í nafni þínu (Now I Again Wish in Your Name)
– Hættu að gráta hringaná (Cease Your Endless Tears)
– Sof þú blíðust barnkind mín (Sleep, My Sweet Child)
– Veröld fláa sýnir sig (Thus the World Reveals Itself)
Sigvaldi Kaldalóns
– Sprengisandur
Folk song, arr. Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson
– Grafskrift (Epitaph)
