Ólafur Arnalds

On 13 October 2026 Ólafur Arnalds will perform at the Cirque Royal, 81 Rue de l'Enseignement, 1000 Brussels. The Icelandic multi-instrumentalist began in hardcore and metal bands and later moved toward a personal writing style centered on piano, strings and discreet electronics. Since Eulogy for Evolution (2007) and …And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness (2010) he has developed repetitive piano motifs, chamber strings and soft textures that border on ambient, sometimes leaning toward film music.

His work for screen—among others the series Broadchurch and various films—extends that aesthetic toward scoring. In addition to his solo work, Arnalds regularly seeks collaborations: as Kiasmos with Janus Rasmussen for minimal, melodic electronics, or with pianist Alice Sara Ott on The Chopin Project (2015). Albums such as For Now I Am Winter (2013), re:member (2018) and Some Kind of Peace (2020) demonstrate a constant cross-pollination between neoclassical, ambient, intimate pop and electronic experimentation.

In Brussels he presents this mix live, focusing on the interplay between piano, strings and subtle electronics, in a set that brings together his trajectory from studio to stage.