Lecture Recital – Queerness on the Opera Stage
Opera singer **Íris Björk Gunnarsdóttir** is the founder of the newly established opera company **hinÓperan**, which aims to increase the visibility of queer people and stories on the opera stage. The company’s first major production is *27*, an opera by Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek, which hinÓperan will present in collaboration with Reykjavík City Theatre this autumn. The opera tells the love story of writer Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, and explores the colourful artistic community that formed around them in Paris during the first half of the 20th century. Íris Björk herself takes on the role of Gertrude Stein in the production.
Íris Björk is a lyric soprano who has worked in both Iceland and Norway in recent years. She completed her Master’s degree at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts’ Academy of Opera in 2023 and subsequently joined the Norwegian National Opera’s Opera Studio, where she has taken part in numerous productions. Alongside her career as a singer, she has explored queerness on the opera stage, with a particular focus on the visibility of queer characters and stories within an art form in which such voices have historically received limited representation.
In this lecture recital, Íris Björk approaches the subject in an informative, personal and engaging way, exploring how queerness manifests itself in the world of opera – in its stories, its characters and in the music itself. Between stories and reflections, she performs selected music from well-known operas.
At the piano is Matthildur Anna Gísladóttir, pianist and opera coach, who is also the Music Director of 27. Matthildur holds a Master’s degree in Piano Accompaniment from the Royal Academy of Music in London and a Master’s degree in Opera Coaching from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has worked on numerous opera productions in Iceland and abroad, including with the Icelandic Opera, Scottish Opera, British Youth Opera and Reykjavík Opera Days, and also works as a teacher and opera coach.
