Icelandic-American cellist Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir was born into a musical family in Reykjavík in 1994. She made her debut in 2013 with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and graduated with a soloist diploma from the Reykjavík College of Music the same year. She went on to study with Prof. Hans Jensen at Northwestern University and completed her bachelor’s degree in 2017. She served as a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago during their 2017-18 season and recently graduated with a master’s degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied Prof. Natasha Brofsky.
She has been a prize winner at numerous competitions, including the Iceland Symphony Orchestra Young Soloist Competition, the Thaviu String Competition, The Evanston Music Club Competition, the Musicians Club of Women Competition, the WDAV Young Chamber Musicians Competition, and the Dover String Quartet Competition. Additionally, she has received fellowships from the Jean-Pierre Jaquillat Memorial Foundation, the Valitor Foundation in Reykjavík, the Rotary Foundation in Iceland, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, the American-Scandinavian Society, and the Leifur Eiríksson Foundation. She has performed solo and chamber music recitals across the United States, in Iceland, Denmark, Holland, and France, and has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras in Iceland. Her festival appearances include Ecole d’Art Américains de Fontainebleau, Valley of the Moon Music Festival, the Holland International Music Sessions, Banff Masterclasses, and the Pinchas Zuckerman Young Artist Program. She has also appeared as artist-in-residence at the Harpa International Music Academy, the Young Icelandic Chamber Musicians Festival, and the Mineral Point Chamber Music Festival. Geirþrúður plays on a Pierre Silvestre cello from 1857. In addition to playing music, Geirþrúður loves baking, reading, running, and playing chess.