About
Photo Credit Magnus Andersen
Sævar Jóhannsson is a pianist and composer based in Iceland. He’s released a total of six albums, three under his previous artist name S.hel and three under his current artist name “Sævar Jóhannsson”. In 2022 his album ´Whenever You’re Ready´ was the winner of Reykjavík Grapevine’s ´You Should Have Heard This´ award. ´Where the Light Enters´ came out in 2023 and Sævar´s sixth album ‘Quiet Presence’ got three nominations and won Album of the Year at the Icelandic Music Awards.
Upprásin 2024 - Photo Credit SunnaBen
Sævar is an active musician within a broad variety of artistic environments, including composing original music for three major theatre productions and two short films by director Katla Sólnes, ‘Whim Rules the Child, and Weather the Field’ which was screened at the Oscar accredited film festival Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia inTokyo and RIFF 2024 (Reykjavík International Film Festival) and 'Embla’ (co-scored with singer/composer Maria-Carmela Raso) which was premiered at Stockfish Film Festival. The first film won Best International Short at Manchester Film Festival 2026 and the second film won both Best Narrative Short Film and the Eva María Daniels Award for Outstanding Filmmaking at Stockfish Film Festival 2026. Sævar´s most recent project has been working as the musical director for multiple grass roots and alternative opera productions in venues across Reykjavík.
Korda Samfónía in Eldborg
Sævar has worked with MetamorPhonics since 2018, leading workshops, being part of the creative leadership team of Korda Samfónía and even guest player with the Messengers. His hopes are to continue to engage creatively with people of all backgrounds as part of his arts practice moving forward.