Vikingur Ólafsson

Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has captured public and critical imagination with his profound musicianship. Ólafsson's recordings for Deutsche Grammophon have led to nearly one billion streams and garnered numerous awards. Notable honours include the Order of the Falcon (Iceland's order of chivalry) and the Icelandic Export Award, presented by the President of Iceland.

His albums have received high praise, including Philip Glass: Piano Works (2017), Johann Sebastian Bach (2018), and J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations (2023), which earned him a Grammy Award. Ólafsson devoted the entire 2023/24 season to touring the aforementioned Goldberg Variations around the world.

The 2024/25 season will feature various activities; Ólafsson will tour Europe with The Cleveland Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, as well as perform with the Berlin Philharmonic at the BBC Proms. In spring 2025, he will present the last three sonatas of Beethoven on multiple dates across the US and Europe.

In 2024, the esteemed radio station Classic FM included Víkingur on its list of “The 25 Best Pianists of All Time”, ranking him 16th, just behind Mozart in 15th place.

This is the third time Víkingur Ólafsson has been nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize, having been nominated also in 2017 and 2021.