Pétur Ben is an award-winning composer and songwriter from Reykjavík. His music is minimal contemporary folk - open tunings and fingerpicking under complex imagery and personal narrative - and it reaches into indie rock when the song asks for it.

He is known for concerts that are not quite like anyone else's: he weaves his own songs together with his own readings of the music he loves, so an evening moves between what he wrote and what he grew up on.

His collaborators run from Emilíana Torrini, Markéta Irglová, Tina Dickow, Ásgeir and Mugison to Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Shahzad Ismaily, Efterklang, Peter Broderick, amiina, Sóley, Slowblow, Valdimar, Lay Low and B.O.X. He writes for chamber ensembles and choirs, and is a founding member and former conductor of KLIÐUR, the Reykjavík choir and art collective.

PAINTED BLUE

Painted Blue came out in December 2025 and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2026 Icelandic Music Awards. It follows God's Lonely Man, which won the Kraumur Award and was also nominated for Album of the Year, and Wine for My Weakness, which won the Icelandic Music Award for Best Rock Album.

FILM

He has written original scores for the director Ragnar Bragason - Metalhead (2013) and Prisoners (2017) - and both won the Edda Award for Best Film Score.

LIVE

Solo: voice and guitar, in open tunings. One performer, one guitar, one vocal microphone. He also performs with a band when the room and the budget allow.

He travels light and needs no crew. As an Icelandic artist he has access to international touring support, which brings the cost of bringing him over well below what the distance suggests.

Contact us for available dates.