Kolbeinn Bjarnason was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, in 1958. He began composing in his fifties after a long career as a performing flautist. He studied philosophy and literature at the University of Iceland and flute at the Reykjavík College of Music, graduating in 1979. Bjarnason continued his musical studies with, among others, Manuela Wiesler in Reykjavík, Kiyoshi Kasai in Basel, Robert Aitken in Toronto and Robert Dick, Harvey Sollberger, and Julius Baker in New York During his time in New York, he also studied shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute, with Ralph Samuelson. Later, he pursued further shakuhachi studies with Teruhisa Fukuda in Tokyo.

As a flautist, Bjarnason performed throughout Europe, the United States, and Japan, premiering numerous  works and collaborating with composers including Toshio Hosokawa, Brian Ferneyhough, Doina Rotaru, Simon Mawhinney, Hans-Henrik Nordström, and Hiroyuki Itoh.

His recordings of flute music by Hosokawa (Naxos, 2010) and Ferneyhough (Bridge, 2002) received international acclaim.

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Ó eilífi foss sem rambar á fossvegum Guðs/
O eternal falls that reel along god’s cascading paths
Poems by Steinunn Sigurðardóttir

Herdís Anna Jónasdóttir, soprano
Hildigunnur Einarsdóttir, mezzo-soprano

CAPUT-ensemble
Jónas Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, accordion
Guðrún Óskarsdóttir, harpsichord
Elísabet Waage & Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir, harps
Frank Aarnink & Steef van Oosterhout, percussion
Guðni Franzson, conductor

Polarfonia Classics, October 2025
Recorded in Studio Syrland by Ragnheiður Jónsdóttir

Flute and Saxophone

Premier: Pamela De Sensi and Guido Bäumer

WindWorks music festival, Akureyri
9. August 2026

Flute

Premier: Björg Brjánsdóttir

Skálholt Summer Concerts
2. July 2025

Poems by Refaat Alareer, Konstantinos Kavafis, Írína Ratúsjínskaja and Natasha S.

Premier: KIMI ensemble - Þórgunnur Anna Örnólfsdóttir soprano, Jónas Ásgeir Ásgeirsson accordion and Katerina Anagnostidou percussion.

Tíbrá - concert series in Salurinn, Kópavogur 
18. May 2025

Poems by Gyrðir Elíasson, Ingibjörg Haraldsdóttir and Ísak Harðarson

Premier: Hildigunnur Einarsdóttir mezzo-soprano and Guðrún Dalía Salómonsdóttir piano 

Dark Music Days, Reykjavík
25. January 2025