Culture Night – Another unforgettable Reykjavik experience

We were looking forward to this year’s Culture Night (Menningarnótt) with anticipation and the events did not disappoint. It began with the thrill of running a 10K race (my muscles are still sore) with a few thousand enthusiasts and it continued with the opening of our Residence in the afternoon.

We welcomed hundreds of visitors and among them there was a lucky group that got to listen to the performance by trumpet virtuosos Stephen Burns and Baldvin Odsson along with pianist Mattias Wager. They performed works by Telemann, Vivaldi, and American composer Aaron Copland.  We were touched by the warm comments of many of the guests who had never been to the residence.  The day ended with a spectacular display of fireworks at the harbor.

Trumpet and organ concert at Hallgrímskirkja

The Hallgrímskirkja Festival of the Sacred Arts hosted a fabulous program on August 22.  American trumpet virtuoso Stephen Burns teamed up with Icelandic wunderkind Baldvin Oddsson, and American organ virtuoso Douglas Cleveland to fill the church with the joyous sound of pieces by Telemann, Nicholas Bruhns, Julian Wachner, James Stephenson, Louis Marchand, and the all-time classic Vivaldi. Every seat of the church was filled.  The audience expressed its deep appreciation for the music with enthusiastic and extended applause at the end of the program.  Those of us who had never heard musical pieces orchestrated with a trumpet and organ were simply blown away by the performance and left asking for more, much more.  We were encouraged to hear that Burns and Cleveland might team up to produce a CD in the future. It would be well worth the wait.