Dark Music Days is an Icelandic contemporary music festival held annually in Reykjavík, Iceland. Held during some of the darkest days of winter, Dark Music Days provides the foremost platform for showcasing innovative and progressive contemporary music in Iceland. Established by the Society of Icelandic Composers in 1980, the festival places emphasis on premiering new and often experimental pieces that reflect the ever-growing diversity and creativity of contemporary music. The role of Dark Music Days in the musical community in Iceland is vital both as an eye-opener for the general public and well as being an incubator for innovation, collaboration and inspiration within the musical community itself.
Dark Music Days particularly focus on encouraging new projects to debut and the daring nature of the festival’s programming has resulted in it premiering more new works of music every year than any other Icelandic cultural event. It is a festival celebrating the wealth of contemporary music creation in Iceland, showcasing a variety of concerts and compositions in different styles by diverse composers.
Dark Music Days puts an emphasis on presenting composers and performers ranging in age, nationality and gender while continuously celebrating the versatile and vivacious contemporary music scene in Iceland.