Andreas Hellkvist

The second concert of the Iceland trip was the biggest challenge. A friend of mine, Kristjan Hrannar is the organist in Hjallakirkja, a church in Kopavogur, just south of Reykjavik. The have a very nice organ built by Björgvin Tómasson and Kristjan asked me to come a see what I could do with it. Being used to playing the Hammond, it’s not easy to switch to church organ, at least not for me. But I could spend some time and practice the days before and get to know it a little better which was really helpful. I put together a program celebrating both Iceland and Sweden with some folk music, jazz, pop and some schlagers. Really enjoyed doing the project and I hope I’ll get another chance some time to explore this organ some more. I was also honoured by the presence of the organ builder himself and we had a little chat afterwards.