Ásdís Valdimarsdóttir comes from Reykjavík, Iceland. She is based in the Netherlands and enjoys a varied career as a musician, violist, and teacher. Ásdís has been a member of many well-known ensembles; most notably as principal viola of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the violist of three major string quartets; The Miami, Chilingirian and Utrecht string quartets.
She has made numerous CD and radio recordings with these ensembles. More recently she has recorded with the Dutch label Zefir records. Her double CD with the title ‘The Voice of the Viola in times of oppression’ with the pianist Marcel Worms was chosen as CD of the year 2019 and given a 10 by the Dutch music magazine Luister. They include works by some less well-known Jewish composers and some better-known great masters such as Shostakovich, Weinberg and Mendelsohn.
With her string trio, the Brunsvik String Trio, she recorded the complete String Trios of Beethoven for the composer’s 250th anniversary. Her recording with the title ‘Stolen Schubert’ contains her transcriptions for viola of works by Schubert; the Arpeggione Sonata, Hirt Auf dem Felsen, Auf dem Stom and songs from the Winterreise. It is recorded with gut strings on the viola and an Erard piano from 1851, with the pianist Edward Janning and the soprano Katharine Dain. Her latest project is the publication and recording of her arrangement of the recently discovered Fantasies for Gamba by G. F. Telemann. The arrangement is published by the French Publisher Billaudot and the recording was made with the Spanish Label HR Recordings in high resolution for streaming.
Ásdís Valdimarsdóttir has previously been on the faculty of the Trinity College and the Royal College of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. She currently teaches viola and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. Since 2015 she has been a member of the Association of Body Mapping Educators and qualified as a teacher in November 2022. Body Mapping is a method for preventing physical injuries in musicians that is informed by the Alexander Technique and is an integral part of her teaching.