Gulli Bjornsson (b.1991) is a guitarist, composer and programmer from Iceland whose music typically ties electronics, live instruments and visuals to experiences in nature. Gulli´s music has been described as “hypnotic” (News Gazette) “a knockout – wondrously inventive” (Soundboard Magazine) and “Virtuosic, modern, occasionally discordant, but still accessible” (Classical Guitar Magazine).
He has written for New Jersey Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, Sō Percussion, Aizuri Quartet, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Contemporaneous, Amanda Gookin, Dither, Jiji, Vicky Chow, Steve Cowan, Mirror Strings amongst others. His compositions have recently been featured by Carnagie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Le Poisson Rouge, Caramoor, Green Music Center, Centre Culturen Canadian Paris, Purdue Convocations, Krannert Center, Rockefeller tri-University, KPU music, NDR Kultur, Ung Nordisk Musik, Oh My Ears Festival, Unruly Sounds, Nantucket Musical Arts Society amongst others.
Gulli has received accolades for his compositions from Changsha, Rust and Veria International Guitar Composition Competitions and received grants from distinguished institutions such as Fulbright, The American Scandinavian Foundation, Valitor, Landsbankinn and The International Advisory Board. He has also been the recipient of multiple awards for his guitar playing: 1st prize at Nótan (a national music competition in Iceland), winner of The Lilian Fuch’s Chamber Music Competition and a finalist in The ASTA National Solo Competition, European Guitar Award and The International Young Talents Competition. Gulli was also the recipient of The Eliot Fisk Prize and The Andrés Segovia Award for his studies at Yale School of Music and Manhattan School of Music.
Gulli currently teaches Electronic Composition at the University of Kansas and holds degree's from Manhattan School of Music, Yale School of Music and Princeton University.
You can follow Gulli and see what he's up to on his artist pages:
https://www.facebook.com/gulli.bjornsson/
https://www.instagram.com/gulligitar/
Honors and Awards
Winner of Nótan competition 2010
Winner of the Lilian Fuch’s Chamber Music Competition 2013
American String Teacher’s Association National Solo Competition Finalist 2013
Andrés Segovia Award 2014
International Young Talents Competition Finalist 2015
Guitar Festival Rust International Composition Competition 2nd Prize 2017 - for Etude no.7
Changsha International Guitar Composition Competition Final Four 2017 - for Prelude no.1 and 5
Eliot Fisk Prize 2018
Ung Nordisk Musik 2019 - for Dimmar Öldur Rísa
Ung Nordisk Musik 2020 - for Bylur
Fenton Brown Emerging Artist - with Jiji as LINU 2020
Veria International Guitar Festival Composition Competition Recording Prize Winner 2020 - for Repetitive Concert Etudes for two guitars no.4 and 6.
European Guitar Award Finalist 2016, 2021
Scholarships and Grants
Grant as an 'exceptional young artist' from Kopavogur 2011
Grant from Valitor 2012
Augustine Endowed Scholarship 2011-12, 2012-13
International Advisory Board Scholarship 2013-14
Fulbright Scholarship 2015
Thor Thor’s Grant from The American Scandinavian Foundation 2016
Grant from Landsbankinn 2016
Irving S. Gilmore Scholarship & Fellowship 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18
Grant from FÍH Cultural Fund for Bergmál 2018
The Mark Nelson Fellowship 2019-20, 20-21, 21-22
Naumberg Fellowship 2019-2020, 20-21, 21-22
Grant from FÍH Cultural Fund 2023
Discography
Bergmál (2019)
Techno 1 (2016)
Featured
Stara - the Music of Halldór Smárason(2020)
Mirror Strings - Dedication(2020)
Steve Cowan - Arctic Sonata (2019)
Angelo Gilardino - A Salute from New York (2015)
VR Music Projects
Aleph, Desert Gaze (2021)