Meet the Artist: Víkingur Ólafsson
Nicknamed “Iceland’s Glenn Gould” by The New York Times and praised as “breathtakingly brilliant” by Gramophone, pianist Víkingur Ólafsson makes his much-anticipated UMS debut on October 24 with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London.
Ólafsson grew up in Reykjavík surrounded by music with his mother, Svana Víkingsdóttir, as his first piano teacher. In his youth, he also studied with Erla Stefánsdóttir and Peter Máté, before moving to New York City to study at The Juilliard School, where he earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees under Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald.
Ólafsson has become one of the most sought-after and heard classical artists of his generation, with his recordings amassing over a billion streams. His recent album of Bach’s Goldberg Variations captured a 2025 Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. Among his accolades, he is a past recipient of Album of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards (2019), Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards (2019), and has received national recognition and the Order of the Falcon from his home country.
Víkingur has established a career that both respects tradition and embraces the new, with a command for repertoire that spans from J.S. Bach to Philip Glass.
Beyond his technical brilliance, Ólafsson brings a deeply personal, almost philosophical approach to the his playing, with interpretations described as “uncommonly sensitive” (Gramophone) and “mesmerizingly original” (The Guardian). With a reputation for performances that balance crystalline clarity with deep emotional insight, Ólafsson will be a perfect virtuosic match for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
The famous “Emperor” concerto opens with thunderous, kingly chords and unfurls into music of radiant strength and introspection — signatures of Beethoven’s “heroic” period of grand works. Preview its triumphant finale movement, in this recording by Glenn Gould:
Alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Ólafsson will join a long list of legendary pianists who have set foot on the stage of Hill Auditorium. Join us on October 24 to hear a meeting of brilliant minds across centuries: Beethoven’s revolutionary fire and Ólafsson’s modern mastery, united in one unforgettable performance.
Tickets start at just $26 (+fees), with many student ticket discount opportunities available.
More to Explore
Ólafsson appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk series in 2024:
In an earlier 2020 interview with NPR, Ólafsson describes having synesthesia — an association of musical pitches with colors.
Ólafsson signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon in 2016, and his debut DG album was devoted to the music of Philip Glass (whose etudes are making an appearance later in UMS’s 25/26 season).
Ólafsson was interviewed by Rick Rubin, Grammy-winning record producer and co-founder of Def Jam Recordings:
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