Jón Nordal

Jón Nordal (6 March 1926 – 5 December 2024) was an Icelandic composer and pianist. He was considered one of the leading Icelandic composers of his generation, and his orchestral and choral works have been widely performed. Career Nordal was born in Reykjavík, the son of the prominent Icelandic philologist and author Sigurður Nordal and his wife Ólöf Jónsdóttir. He began music studies at a young age, and eventually began studying composition at the Reykjavík College of Music with Victor Urbancic and later with Jón Þórarinsson. He completed his studies there in 1949, with a Concerto for Orchestra that was premiered by the newly-established Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 1950. He continued his studies in Zurich (1949–1951), where he studied with Willy Burkhard (composition) and Walter Frey (piano). He lived for a while in Copenhagen, where his father was the Icelandic ambassador at the time, but returned to Iceland in 1957. In 1959, he became the Dean of the Reykjavík College of Music, a position he held until 1992. In his earlier years, Nordal appeared frequently as piano soloist, giving solo recitals and performing with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Among his early key works is a S