Education

Ragnheiður Ingunn Jóhannsdóttir graduated from the Iceland University of the Arts in the spring of 2021 with a double bachelor's degree in violin and vocal performance, with orchestral conducting as an extra subject. In May 2023 she graduated with a master's degree in vocal performance from the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm where she studied with Åsa Bäverstam and Magnus Svensson. 

This summer she graduated from the Malko International Academy for Young Conductors in Copenhagen and conducted the Danish National Symphony Orchestra at her final concert. 

Ragnheiður Ingunn also holds a master’s degree in Cultural Management from Bifröst University.

In the fall of 2024, Ragnheiður will continue her orchestral conducting studies in Oslo with Ole Kristian Ruud at the Norwegian Academy of Music and participates in the Glover-Edwards Conducting Programme at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Sian Edwards, Alice Farnham and Jane Glover.

Singing and conducting simultaneously

In November 2022, Ragnheiður performed as a soloist and conductor (at the same time) at her concert Soprano takes the baton at the Reykjavík Opera Days in Eldborg, Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, with a chamber orchestra, premiering three Icelandic pieces, written especially for her, and performing Zerbinetta’s aria by Richard Strauss. Following this, she was awarded the rising star prize as “The Brightest Hope in Icelandic Music” at the Icelandic Music Awards in March 2023.

In May 2023 she sang and conducted arias by R. Strauss and A. Berg with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, after winning the orchestra’s soloist competition.

Voice

In Reykjavík, Ragnheiður was the winner of the classical singing competition Vox Domini in the spring of 2022 and was named “Voice of the Year”. In March 2023 she sang the soprano solo in Mahler’s 4th symphony with the Iceland Youth Symphony.

As a child she sang and acted in various theatrical productions, both at the Iceland National Theatre and the Reykjavík City Theatre. She then sang the title role in Alice in Wonderland, a new opera by John Speight produced by the Iceland University of the Arts in 2021, and has performed as a soloist with choirs in Stockholm, for example in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. In June 2022 she performed in the opera Hrafntinna with the Icelandic Opera at the Reykjavík Arts Festival, as well as performing at Songfest, Hafnarfjörður. In the fall of 2023 she performed Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments with a violinist at two concerts at the Reykjavík Opera Days. She has also worked with various pianists in Iceland and performed several lied concerts, recently focusing on Nordic and French music and German music from the 20th century. 

Violin

As a violinist she has performed as a soloist with the Reykjavík College of Music Symphony Orchestra, played in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and been the concertmaster of the Iceland Symphony Youth Orchestra and other youth orchestras in Iceland. She has performed with various artists in different genres of music in recordings, concerts and music festivals in London, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Conducting

In 2020 she was admitted into the Iceland Symphony Conducting Academy with Eva Ollikainen and in 2019 she participated in orchestral conducting masterclasses with Alice Farnham in London. In 2022 she was one of six students accepted into the Malko International Academy for Young Conductors in Copenhagen where she studied orchestral and choir conducting until the summer of 2024. The students conducted members from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the DR Vocal Ensemble in monthly sessions and received masterclasses from Fabio Luisi, Johannes Schlaefli, Dmitry Matvienko, Geoffrey Paterson and Martina Batič and regular conducting lessons with Henrik Vagn Christensen and Ole Faurschou, along with advanced theory, ear training, piano and Pilates lessons. 

In 2023-2024, she was the conductor of the Iceland Youth Symphony and Reykjavík College of Music Symphony Orchestra and conducted a children’s concert and TV-recordings for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Ragnheiður also conducted string orchestra recordings on Björk’s newest album, Fossora.