Biography

After completing her bachelor's degree with honors, Icelandic Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir concluded her studies in 2021 with a Master of Music at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin.
Not only is she a winner of various competitions and was named Singer of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards 2021, among others, she was also allowed to represent Iceland at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition 2021. Her debut album ‘Poems’ will be released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2023.
The album is a joint project with the Icelandic composer, conductor and producer Viktor Orri Árnason. Together they have created songs in which they set the poetry of Icelandic poets from the past and present to music, including their own texts.

Álfheiður gave her opera debut at the Staatsoper Berlin in the title role of Wolfgang Mitterer's Snow White, followed by Papagena in Mozart's Magic Flute in 2019.
In 2020, she made her debut with the role of the Angel in Olivier Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise at Theater Basel, following on from this success, she became a permanent member of the Basel ensemble and has since made her debut as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto and appeared in staged productions of the St Matthew Passion, Haydn's Creation and the Mozart Requiem. She was equally successful in Philip Glass / Einstein on the Beach and as Drusilla / L'incoronazione di Poppea.
In Basel, she has worked with conductors such as Alessandro de Marchi, Laurence Cummings, Ivor Bolton, Michele Spotti and Jörg Halubek, coupled with intensive collaboration with directors such as Benedikt von Peter, Susanne Kennedy, Romeo Castellucci, Christoph Marthaler, Vincent Huguet and Thomas Verstraeten.
Besides an invitation to Theater Dortmund for the premiere of “Der Hetzer” from Bernhard Lang, a further opera guest performance with contemporary music will lead her to the Theater Wien in the future. 

Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir will be starting off the 24/25 season with performances of the  Waldvogel in the Siegfried premiere of Wagner's RING, directed by Benedikt von Peter and conducted by Jonathan Nott at the Theater Basel.  This will be followed by the new production of Stephen Sondheim's fast-paced musical Into the Woods, in which she will portray Cinderella under the musical direction of Thomas Wise and Martin G. Berger. In 2025, she can then be seen in another premiere of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas as Belinda and 2nd Witch, this time conducted by Johannes Keller and directed by Franck Chartier.
For the 2025/26 season, 
Álfheiður has been nominated by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) as part of the ‘Rising Stars’ programme. She will tour Europe with a programme of her own choice together with 5 other promising artists and perform in the most prestigious concert halls in 14 countries.  

 

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Artist Website

www.alfheidurerla.com

Management

General Management

Artist Manager  

News

In the surreal production of Dido and Aeneas at Theater Basel

Icelandic soprano Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir sings the roles of Belinda and 2nd Witch in the new production of Dido and Aeneas at Theater Basel. The Belgian dance theatre-collective Peeping Tom transforms Purcell's opera into a complete work of art. The love story between Queen Dido and the war hero Aeneas merges with the obsessive fantasy of a rich, powerful widow who recognises herself in Dido and descends into the madness of unattainable love. The baroque orchestra La Cetra performs under the musical direction of Atsushi Sakai. 
Premiere 05.04.2025

Further performance dates:
www.theater-basel.ch 

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"Rising Star" of the 2025/26 ECHO season 

Te decet hymnus - Mozart Requiem at Theater Basel

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Media

Images
Portrait
Photo: Hjördís Jónsdóttir

Download availablePortrait
Photo: Valgeir Einarsson

Download availableEngel in Saint Francois d'Assise - Theater Basel (mit Nathan Berg)

Photo: Ingo Hoehn

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Videos
Trailer "Saint François d'Assise" (Olivier Messiaen) am Theater Basel

Palais Lichtenau Session - Claude Debussy "Apparition"

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Press