Oliver Kentish

Who is Oliver Kentish?

Oliver John Kentish is a British-born cellist, tutor, and composer, living in Reykjavík, Iceland, moving there in 1977 and being granted Icelandic nationality in 1989. Kentish composes orchestral, choral, vocal, and chamber music.

In addition to composition, Kentish has been the Artistic Director of the Iceland Amateur Symphony Orchestra since 2005.

Kentish was commissioned by the British Government in 1993 to write the work Mitt Folk which was performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and is dedicated to Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. The work commemorates the 50th anniversary of Iceland as a republic and was a gift from Britain to Iceland.

Much of Kentish's current work is for the countertenor Sverrir Guðjónsson.

His work Prelude and Fugue for 10 violas was premiered in the United Kingdom at the Purcell Room in London on 30 November 2008.