Biography

Guðný Jónasdóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland where she began her musical studies with Gunnar Kvaran at the Icelandic Academy of the Arts. An Erasmus exchange year at the UDK Berlin brought her to Germany where she continued studying at the Musikhochschule Lübeck and graduated with BMus in 2011. Her main teachers in Germany were Markus Nyikos and Ulf Tischbirek, however she also received tuition from Troels Svane, Natasha Prischipenko and Heime Müller. She moved to London in 2011 to study on the master’s course at the Royal Academy of Music with Josephine Knight, graduating in 2013. This was followed by an Open Academy Fellowship where she is currently training to be a Music Workshop Leader.

An experienced orchestral cellist, Guðný has performed extensively with the Lübecker Philharmoniker as well as being a substitute cellist at the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra where she made her solo debut with Elgar’s Cello Concerto in 2005. As a keen chamber musician, Guðný has performed with various chamber ensembles in the USA, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Iceland, Holland and the UK.

Guðný also plays cello in a jazz band and has interests in a wide range of traditional world music such as Tango and Balkan. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking creatively and hiking and camping in Iceland.

QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS

What is your earliest musical memory?
My parents took me to a symphony Orchestra Concert when I was five so I could pick an instrument. They had suggested the violin, I wasn’t sure that was cool enough…

What’s on your playlist right now?
For the morning: Baroque – Carmignola playing Vivaldi, Albrecht Meyer playing Handel.
For the evening: Jazz – lots of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and Eva Cassidy Live at Blues Alley.