Erna Vala

Erna Vala pianist is the founder and artistic director of the chamber music festival Seigla. She is also the founder and president of the non-profit cultural foundation the Icelandic Schumann Society. Erna Vala has performed as soloist with orchestras, performed solo as well as chamber recitals and her playing has been broadcast live on the radio and TV. In the past season she performed solo recitals at concert series such as Tíbrá, Menning á miðvikudögum and Beethoven 250+1 at Salurinn Chamber Hall, Velkomin heim at Harpa Concert Hall, and solo recitals at Norðurljós, Harpa, and all over Iceland. She performed as chamber pianist with Elja Ensemble at Ung Nordisk Musik Festival, Siggi String Quartet at Nordic Music Days, Á Ljúfum Nótum at Fríkirkjan, Culture Night at Harpa, Sígildir Sunnudagar at Harpa. She has also been invited as guest artist to festivals such as Við Djúpið in Ísafjörður, Fulbright Arctic Initiative in Washington D.C, Albignac Piano Festival in France and Trinity Laban Contemporary Art Festival in London. Erna Vala has won several prizes, such as for the Young Soloists Competition of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the EPTA Piano Competition in Iceland, she was also awarded the White Rose, Finnish medal of honor, by president Sauli Niinistö in 2018.

Erna Vala holds a masters degree in piano performance from the Sibelius Academy, obtained in 2019 studying with Hamsa Juris. She started her D.M.A. studies on a Fulbright Fellowship with Bernadene Blaha at USC Thornton School of Music in fall 2019. Prior, she had completed a B.Mus. and a junior department diploma in piano performance at the Iceland University of the Arts, studying with Peter Máté. Erna Vala recently graduated with masters in instrumental pedagogy from the Iceland University of the Arts and will continue her studies at the PhD Performance Research program at Royal Academy of Music in London.