Anna Thorvaldsdottir is an Icelandic composer whose work conjures entire environments of sound, surrounding the listener in a dark and forbidding landscape. Anna thinks sonically; her music comes from a deeply non-verbal place, and she has developed a brilliant workflow which allows these ideas to remain mostly whole and unmolested through her creative process. Anna often favors massive ensembles, writing delicate and detailed parts for every player, but even when she is writing for smaller forces, she somehow summons these massive sonorities — detailed, elegant tapestries with a seductive gravity, which pull the listener in with their gradually revolving color and texture. - Nadia Sirota

Each night from Monday, January 18 to Friday, January 22 on WNYC, hear Meet The Composer at 9pm on 93.9FM.

• Episode 1: Kaija Saariahob - Monday, January 18 at 9pm on 93.9FM
• Episode 2: Nico Muhly - Tuesday, January 19 at 9pm on 93.9FM
• Episode 3: Meredith Monk - Wednesday, January 20 at 9pm on 93.9FM
• Episode 4: Ingram Marshall - Thursday, January 21 at 9pm on 93.9FM
• Episode 5: Anna Thorvaldsdottir - Friday, January 22 at 9pm on 93.9FM

Meet the Composer is a podcast from Q2 Music that takes listeners into the minds and creative processes of the composers making some of the most innovative, compelling and breathtakingly beautiful music today. The show is hosted by critically-acclaimed violist Nadia Sirota.