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.
