Jóhann Jóhannsson News about Album & Tour in USA, Canada & UK

Jóhann Jóhannsson:
Album, Tour Dates & New Collaboration

Classical/experimental stalwart Jóhann Jóhannsson has announced a brand new collaboration with American filmmaker Bill Morrison. Commissioned by the Durham Brass Festival, the new work is called "The Miners' Hymns" and will be premiered in Durham Cathedral on July 15th and 16th. According to the Forma press release, "The Miners’ Hymns is a poignant and powerful reflection on the place of brass music at the heart of social and industrial history of North East England. Bill Morrison’s film is composed of footage from the British Film Institute and other archives, set to a new score for brass by the internationally acclaimed Icelandic musician and composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. The score will be performed live by twenty musicians, including brass band and classically trained players from the region."
The ensemble is composed of members of the Northern Sinfonia and the Riverside Brass Band as well as the organist Robert Houssart and is conducted by Guðni Franzson.
Jóhann´s music for Marc Craste´s award winning film “Varmints”, entitled “And in the endless pause there came the sound of bees” is officially released today, April 12th, on the Type label. The score, which has won awards at film festivals in the US and Japan, was previously released in a limited edition only available on Jóhann´s US tour in summer 2009. This new “official” release includes two previously unavailable tracks.
The album can be pre-ordered on iTunes and the CD can be bought here.
To celebrate the release, Jóhann will tour the US again in May, and this time the tour includes dates in Canada and on the US West Coast. The touring set-up will be the familiar 6 piece including long-time Icelandic collaborator Matthías Hemstock. Strings are handled by Clarice Jensen, Keats Diefenbach, Yuki Numata and Ben Russell of the amazing ACME ensemble, who also toured with Jóhann last year.
30 April, New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge
01 May, Brooklyn, NY - Littlefield
02 May, Boston, MA - Brattle Theater
03 May, Montreal, Quebec - L'Astral Theatre
04 May, Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
06 May, Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks
07 May, Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
08 May, Minneapolis MN - Cedar Cultural Center
11 May, Vancouver, British Columbia - Biltmore Theater
12 May, Seattle, WA - Triple Door Theater
13 May, Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
14 May, San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
15 May, Los Angeles, CA – Silent Movie Theater

UK dates in May:
The American tour will be followed by a short tour of the UK in May where Jóhann will be performing with the distinguished Iskra String Quartet:
26 May, Prince Albert, Brighton, England
27 May, St Giles in the Fields, London, England
28 May, Church of St. John the Baptist, Coventry, England
29 May, Opera North – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, England

Source: IMX