Jóhann Ólafur Haraldsson

Jóhann Ó. Haraldsson was born on August 19, 1902, in Eyjafjörður in northern Iceland, the son of Haraldur Pálsson, a church organist and choir singer. Haraldsson graduated from secondary school in 1923. He studied organ with his father and took private singing lessons for two years. Although his principal occupation was bookkeeping, he remained active in the field of music throughout most of his life. For a period he served as a church organist and conducted Karlakór Akureyrar for one year. He also appeared on various occasions as both singer and organist and wrote newspaper articles on music. Most of his compositional output was vocal music. He composed works for male choir, mixed choir, and solo voice, in addition to pieces for piano and organ.