State of the Art: Bríet & ADHD

State of the Art's opening concert, featuring Icelandic pop diva Bríet and the impulsive and energetic ADHD band.

State of the Art is a new music festival based in Reykjavík, Iceland. Its first instalment will take place October 8 - 12 in various venues across Reykjavík. The festival is conceived with the ambition of establishing a new platform for collaboration between artists, generating a breeding confluence of music genres. State of the Art aims to present classical music in a new context and presenting performers in unprecedented constellations.

The festival’s title, State of the Art, usually refers to the latest and most sophisticated or advanced stage of a technology, art, or science. At the same time it draws attention to the current state of affairs, the “contemporary”. When it comes to the arts, the term tends to evoke notions of the austere and unapproachable. But we are here now, together with time, and–despite the times–we don’t feel that way at all. The festival dissolves all preconceived ideas one may have regarding our contemporary landscape by exposing the bustling fertility in contemporary music, new and old. Fresh context is everything.

The festival is founded and curated by Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason, Bergur Þórisson and Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson. Combined the three have a vast knowledge and experience of most types of music. Bergur is a trombone player, recording engineer and more. He has been Björk’s musical director for 7 years along with being a co-founder of the Reykjavík Recording Orkestra in Harpa. Magnús is a pianist and prolific musician in Iceland, he is a composer, producer and busy performer of jazz, hip-hop, pop and other genres. Bjarni is a conductor and composer who has worn many hats in the music world but classical music is where his heart lies. He was recently appointed artistic director of the BIT20 ensemble in Bergen, Norway and has toured the world as a conductor with Björk.