Ragnheiður Ingunn Jóhannsdóttir graduated from the Iceland University of the Arts in the spring of 2021 with a double bachelor's degree in violin and vocal performance, with orchestral conducting as an extra subject. In May 2023 she graduated with a master's degree in vocal performance from the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm where she studied with Åsa Bäverstam and Magnus Svensson. This summer she will graduate from the Malko International Academy for Young Conductors in Copenhagen.

In November 2022, Ragnheiður performed as a soloist and conductor (at the same time) at her concert Soprano takes the baton at the Reykjavík Opera Days in Eldborg, Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík, with a chamber orchestra, premiering three Icelandic pieces, written especially for her, and performing Zerbinetta’s aria by Richard Strauss. Following that, she was awarded the rising star prize as “The Brightest Hope in Icelandic Music” at the Icelandic Music Awards in March 2023.

In Reykjavík, Ragnheiður was the winner of the classical singing competition Vox Domini in the spring of 2022 and was named “Voice of the Year”. In March 2023 she sang the soprano solo in Mahler’s 4th symphony with the Iceland Youth Symphony and in May 2023 she sang and conducted arias by R. Strauss and A. Berg with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, after winning the orchestra’s soloist competition.

As a child she sang and acted in various theatrical productions, both at the Iceland National Theatre and the Reykjavík City Theatre. She then sang the title role in Alice in Wonderland, a new opera by John Speight produced by the Iceland University of the Arts in 2021, and has performed as a soloist with choirs in Stockholm, for example in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. In June 2022 she performed in the opera Hrafntinna with the Icelandic Opera at the Reykjavík Arts Festival, as well as performing at Songfest, Hafnarfjörður. In the fall of 2023 she performed Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments with a violinist at two concerts at the Reykjavík Opera Days. She has also worked with various pianists in Iceland and performed several lied concerts, recently focusing on Nordic and French music, as well as German music from the 20th century.

As a violinist she has performed as a soloist with the Reykjavík College of Music Symphony Orchestra, played in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and been the concertmaster of the Iceland Symphony Youth Orchestra and other youth orchestras in Iceland. She has performed with various artists in different genres of music in recordings, concerts and music festivals in London, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

In 2020 she was admitted into the Iceland Symphony Conducting Academy with Eva Ollikainen and in 2019 she participated in orchestral conducting masterclasses with Alice Farnham in London. In 2023-2024, she was the conductor of the Iceland Youth Symphony and Reykjavík College of Music Symphony Orchestra and conducted a children’s concert and TV-recordings for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Ragnheiður also conducted string orchestra recordings on Björk’s newest album, Fossora.

Ragnheiður Ingunn holds a master’s degree in Cultural Management from Bifröst University.

In the fall of 2024, Ragnheiður will continue her orchestral conducting studies in Oslo with Ole Kristian Ruud at the Norwegian Academy of Music.