Iceland’s Musical Allure: How an Oscar Winner Found His Muse in the Land of Fire and Ice (Guest Column)

Composer Volker Bertelmann turned to Thorvaldur Bjarni Thorvaldsson during the pandemic

Composer Volker Bertelmann and producer/composer Thorvadur Bjarni Thorvaldsson

Just over 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, in the northern climes of Iceland, lies the town of Akureyri. While it may be a bit hard to pronounce, Akureyri is fast becoming known as the Arctic Abbey Road. Iceland is quickly emerging as the leading supplier of musicians and the cutting-edge facilities that record them, with musical directors from Netflix to Disney flocking there. And Akureyri is the gleaming sonic gem in this crown of sound.

Amid this Nordic cacophony is a man known as Iceland’s George Martin – a producer and composer whose long tenure in Icelandic music (his band Todmobile just celebrated their 35th anniversary) has fast become legend to music directors and composers all over the world.

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