“the orchestra feels embedded in the environment: solid yet lithe, dark yet light and peppered with eruptions that subside as quickly as they appear.” -BBC Music Magazine

“the audience was instantly silent and attentive as Thorsteinsdóttir created eerie, intriguing sounds”
-Classical Voice North America

“emerging into a luminous, subtle, carefully formed and exquisitely detailed piece that floats as one ever-transforming entity”
- Gramophone Editor’s Choice

Inmost ★★★★ „Mér fannst ég kenna áhrif jarðhrær­inga í hljóðheimi Veronique Vöku sem ein­mitt hef­ur
lagt sig eft­ir að skrá og um­rita breyt­ing­ar sem verða í ís­lenskri nátt­úru.”
- Morgunblaðið

Veronique Vaka, born in 1986, is a composer based in Iceland. She studied classical cello performance at Vincent-d’Indy, electroacoustic composition at the University of Montreal and completed a Master's degree in music composition from the Iceland University of the Arts.

Veronique's works are rooted in the geology and topography of Iceland. From the inner core of the Earth to its outer shapes, she explores the narrative of landscapes. Her orchestral piece Lendh, re-imagining the geothermal region of Krýsuvík, was internationally praised by critics and described as "operating on a geologic scale, with tectonic bass textures" by The New York Times and "a marvel" by British music magazine Gramophone. Lendh was nominated for the Icelandic Music Awards and the Nordic Council Music Prize. In 2020, she began a Glacier Series; a compilation of works with the transformation of glacial landscapes as groundwork, to create awareness of climate change. Among these works is the cello concerto Gemæltan written for the renowned Sæunn Þorsteinsdóttir, expressing the melting of Síðujökull: "We are living the most rapid change of Earth’s forces that a single generation has experienced. Glaciers, that before moved at geological speed of centuries and millennia, are now vanishing in a lifetime of a single human being [...]" -programme note by Andri Snær Magnason. Gemæltan received a nomination for the Icelandic Music Awards, Composition of the Year. Also in this series is the viola concerto Vanescere, written for Þórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir, where Veronique observed the changes of Sólheimajökull during one year: "We hear the glacier’s changing shape in movements by degrees: the shifting of one note in a chord, the twisting or contracting of a texture [...]" - programme note by Andrew Mellor. 

An important aspect of Veronique's music is the perception of time. It is constructed as an independent layer of music that can fluctuate with different velocities and even come to a complete standstill. It expands, contracts and alters the sense of time.

Veronique has written symphonic works, concertos, and a variety of music for ensembles, from string quartets to large chamber works. She has been performed by celebrated soloists and ensembles across continents. Her works have appeared at a variety of festivals such as Møn Sommerkoncer, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Cresc... Biennale für aktuelle Musik, Tertulia Chamber Music, Chamber Music Festival on Valentia, Myrkir Músíkdagar, Við Djúpið, Tónlistarhátíð Rásar 1, Kammermúsíkklúbburinn and Sumartónleikar í Skálholti. Since 2021, her works have been published by Universal Edition in Vienna. 

Among upcoming projects is the release of Neige éternelle (five pieces for solo cello) with Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir on November 15th 2024. Upcoming works are Magnesia for solo flute written for Björg Brjánsdóttir, Sleeping Giants, and new piece written for Siggi String Quartet.

Veronique is a member of Tónskáldafélag Íslands (the Society of Icelandic Composers).