Magnús Jóhann ICELAND

Magnús Jóhann (b.1996) is a leading voice in Iceland’s contemporary music landscape, known for his voracious creative appetite that includes composition, production, improvisation, and cross-genre collaboration. A jazz trained pianist and composer, Magnús has become one of the most sought-after musicians of his generation with a body of work that spans solo albums, orchestral performances, film scores, and studio production for some of Iceland’s most prominent artists.
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Magnús first emerged in 2016 with Pronto, an ambient piano album created following his award-winning performance at the Icelandic Music Experiments (Músíktilraunir). Since then he’s established a musical language defined by emotional nuance and a freedom from stylistic constraint—qualities that continue to characterise his evolving sound. His later solo releases, including Without Listening (2020), Concrete Box (2024), and Rofnar (2023), explore the intersection of improvisation and structure, often blurring the boundaries between classical minimalism, experimental jazz, and ambient pop.
A prolific collaborator, Magnús has worked closely with artists such as GDRN, Skúli Sverrisson, and Óskar Guðjónsson, and is a core contributor to a wide spectrum of Icelandic music, from R&B and hip-hop to chamber and film music. In 2022, his album Tíu íslensk sönglög with GDRN reimagined traditional Icelandic songs with a contemporary sensibility, drawing acclaim for its sensitive arrangements.

In 2023 and again in 2025, Magnús was named Performer of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards, underscoring his impact both on stage and in the studio. His performance repertoire ranges from intimate solo concerts to large-scale orchestral works, including his upcoming performance with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra in 2026. Where they will present Portrait of Magnús Jóhann, a concert featuring a new orchestral piece and orchestral arrangements of his works, featuring Magnús as soloist on piano, synthesizers, and Ondes Martenot, highlighting his versatility as both composer and performer.

In addition to his work as a composer and performer, Magnús is the founder and curator of State of the Art, a Reykjavík-based music festival that showcases boundary-pushing performances across genres with a focus on unconventional venues, experimental sound, and contemporary composition.

Equally at home scoring for screen and stage, Magnús has composed music for film, theatre, and contemporary dance, often weaving together acoustic instrumentation with electronic textures. While the piano remains central to his musical language, Magnús’s scores often depart from it sonically, drawing instead on a wide and shifting palette—from textural strings and extended techniques to slide guitar, flutes, and unconventional percussion. Across this diversity, his work maintains a cohesive musical voice, marked by a sensitivity to tone and atmosphere.

Rooted in the Nordic jazz tradition but unbound by it, Magnús approaches music as a living language. Whether producing for others, writing for ensemble, or improvising alone at the piano, his work resonates with a lyrical clarity that transcends genre. In an era of musical hybridity, Magnús Jóhann stands as a singular voice, continually reshaping the edges of contemporary composition through sound, space, and sensitivity.