Back to videos
Live Performance

Ólafur Arnalds: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Ólafur Arnalds

Bob Boilen -- It's as if the pianos were haunted. Somewhere about midway through this Tiny Desk, as Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds performed on his electronic keyboard, two upright pianos were playing lilting melodies behind him, absent any performer at the keys. And yet these "ghosts," along with Ólafur's band of strings and percussion, put together some of the most beautiful music I've heard at the Tiny Desk, made all the more mysterious through its presentation.

Meet the artist

Ólafur Arnalds

Ólafur Arnalds (1986) is an Icelandic musician, composer and producer. A former hardcore, punk and metal drummer, he is part of the experimental electronic duo Kiasmos (with Janus Rasmussen) and an acclaimed composer of film and television scores. On his solo albums, Arnalds combines classical orchestration with post-rock dynamics and elements of electronic music, ambient, pop and Nordic folk. For his 2020 album “Some Kind of Peace”, he received two Grammy nominations.

View profile
Ólafur Arnalds

Monthly grains
straight into your mailbox

Exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes stories, handpicked playlists, limited edition drops and much more:
delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to the grains monthly update right here.
subscribe