Víkingur Ólafsson

Between appearances with the world’s premier orchestras, Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson crafts interpretations of some of classical music’s most iconic works.

∙ Winterreise, his take on Austrian composer Franz Schubert’s song cycle of the same name, was named Classical Album of the Year at the 2012 Icelandic Music Awards.
∙ Italian composer Dario Marianelli tapped him to perform on the BAFTA-nominated soundtrack for the Oscar-winning 2017 drama Darkest Hour.
∙ Gramophone named him Artist of the Year for his 2018 breakout, Johann Sebastian Bach, which also won Album of the Year honors at the BBC Music Magazine Awards.
∙ Debussy – Rameau, which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Classical chart, included “The Arts and the Hours,” listed by NPR Music as one of the 100 Best Songs of 2020.
∙ Gifted with perfect pitch, he also has a rare neurological phenomenon called synesthesia, which causes him to visualize each musical pitch as a specific color.