Unnur Fjóla Evans

DMA Student in Composition

Fjóla Evans is a Canadian/Icelandic composer and cellist. Her work explores the visceral physicality of sound while drawing inspiration from patterns of natural phenomena. Commissions and performances have come from musicians such as Bang on a Can All-Stars pianist Vicky Chow, Grammy-winning ensemble eighth blackbird, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Her work has been featured on the MATA Festival, Bang on a Can Marathon, Ung Nordisk Musik, and the American Composers Orchestra's SONiC Festival. As a performer, she has presented her own work at Cluster Festival of New Music, (le) poisson rouge, and at Toronto's Music Gallery. Fjóla has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and KulturKontakt Austria, among others. She has studied composition with Julia Wolfe, cello performance with Matt Haimovitz, and completed a graduate degree in composition at the Yale School of Music in 2018. In September 2019 she will begin doctoral studies in composition at Columbia University. Recent projects include a collaboration with animator Amanda Bonaiuto on a new work for Echo Chamber, the premiere of The Visitor for Toronto's Continuum Ensemble and TorQ Quartet, and the release of Bearthoven's recording of Shoaling on Cantaloupe Music. Fjóla is the 2017 winner of the Robert Fleming Prize—an award given by the Canada Canada Council for the Arts to one composer annually.