2013-2023 - 10 Years of Olga
In 2023, Olga are very proud to celebrate ten years together as a vocal ensemble.
The journey began in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in late 2012, with a bunch of international music students who had the same voice teacher, Jón Þorsteinsson. Since then, we’ve developed an incredibly loving loyal fanbase, and we are so grateful to all of you who have been so generous and supportive in helping us on our way.
Initiated by a feverish spirit of young energy, soon there were tours of the USA, competitions in Spain, gigs all around Europe and the start of an almost yearly tradition of visits to Iceland alongside regular concerts in and around the Netherlands.
Olga began as a quartet, with Bjarni Guðmundsson, Haraldur Eyjólfsson, Pétur Oddbergur Heimisson, and Philip Barkhudarov. Haraldur left the group in 2013, and at that stage Jonathan Alexander Ploeg and Gulian van Nierop joined. Sadly, Haraldur passed away in 2015, but his memory will forever live on in our music.
Gulian and Bjarni left Olga in 2017 and were then replaced by Matthew Smith and Arjan Lienaerts, and since then the Olga line up has stayed the same. Despite departing, both former members feature on the latest ‘Winter Light’ album and remain involved as arrangers and sometime performers. Hartelijk bedankt fellas! (Non-Dutch speakers look it up!)
In 2018, Olga had a tremendous music experience in Washington DC, singing in workshops and finally on the main stage at the Kennedy Center celebrating what would have Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday! Meeting such wonderful, talented humans from so many diverse cultures from around the globe and singing together was a truly festive, life-affirming experience for all of us.
Olga are now more project based, since two members, Philip and Pétur, now reside in Reykjavík. This means the group’s working method is intensive and efficient during various weeks together throughout each year.
There are so many highlights to choose from. Over the last 10 years we have produced 5 albums, averaging one every other year. The subjects have been very diverse, although always in each album until now you find the ever faithful nod towards Scandinavia (particularly Iceland) and Russia, the ‘essence’ of Olga.
In our recordings and shows the folk and traditional are featured alongside sometimes eclectic choices. One of Olga’s missions is to uncover music from lesser known cultures and music genres. We always try to keep you guessing. :)
All the albums are very different from each other and somewhat unusual in nature, with various commissions of new compositions and arrangements.
During the process of recording our albums, we deepened our understanding of the technical aspects of a recording studio, different acoustic challenges, working as a group and negotiating strange unforeseen noises and/or people. (There’s always a man with a chainsaw around when you don’t want him!)
So, on to 2023, and our retrospective of Olga’s first 10 years. It offers a unique opportunity to open the scores again and gather together great music and share it once more with you sometime in the autumn months of 2023. Maybe we’ll call it the Retrospective…. ’The legend of Ketill Olguson’.
Again, our huge thanks go to our families and dear friends and supporters.
