Vikingur Olafsson © Ari Magg
©Photo: Ari Magg

Víkingur Ólafsson is Front Row’s new Artist in Residence

9/4/2020

BBC Radio 4’s flagship arts programme Front Row will broadcast performances and a short talk by concert pianist Víkingur Ólafsson – the show’s Artist in Residence – during lockdown. Ólafsson’s performances will be weekly and live – starting Thursday 9 April at 19:15 with Ólafsson’s own transcription of Sigvaldi Kaldalóns’ Ave Maria – on the grand piano of the currently empty Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. From April 17 onwards, Olafsson’s performances will be broadcast every Friday at 19:00. Ólafsson’s Front Row performances will also be repeated on BBC Radio 3’s Breakfast show on Mondays.

“I am very happy to get to perform and talk about music on Front Row, the programme that has brought me so much inspiration and ideas over the years. Tonight I will be performing my own transcription of Sigvaldi Kaldalóns’ Ave Maria. Kaldalóns was a doctor and Ave Maria is by nature the perfect setting for this Thursday before Easter. I dedicate this prayer to all the people suffering but more specifically to all the health workers who are so selfless in the fight against COVID-19.”

 - Víkingur Ólafsson