“Lendh is a marvel.” -Gramophone Magazine

“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

“Veronique Vaka’s Lendh operates on a geologic scale, with tectonic bass textures and
a slowly changing shape” -The New York Times

“Her collection of works shows increasingly innovative means of translating nature into musical forms with excellent craftsmanship and lyrical sense.” - Nordic Council Music Prize 

“This is part of an overall elusiveness in Lendh that i think is one of its most beautiful and beguiling features. The music often feels as if it’s reaching out, even opening up, yet remaining enigmatic, half in shadow.” -5:4

Veronique Vaka, born in 1986, is a composer based in Iceland. She studied classical cello performance at Vincent-d’Indy, continued her studies in electro-acoustic composition at the University of Montreal and completed a Master's degree in music composition from the Iceland University of the Arts. Her orchestral work Lendh has been nominated for The Icelandic Music Awards 2020 - Composition of the year, and for the Nordic Council Music Prize 2020.

Veronique took a step towards a more abstract approach to her music when she started her research: From Landscape to Music Notation. The intention of her work is to create a poetic context between what she sees, hears and feels in the unspoiled nature, and combine it into a musical composition. Her composition style is described as organic, with an emphasis on small details such as textural and timbral elements.

Veronique Vaka works have been performed by: The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Sinfóníuhljómsveit Áhugamanna's Orchestra, Ensemble Paramirabo, Duo Harpverk, Ensemble Synaesthesis, Ensemble Adapter, Elektra Ensemble, Caput Ensemble, The Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, Siggi String Quartet, Ensemble Dasein, Nordic Affect, Opus XX Orchestra, Una Sveinbjarnardóttir, Feima, Sarah Parkin -soprano, Michael Taylor -countertenor and Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir. She wrote two vocal works, Vötn, with the poetry of Steinunn Arnbjörg Stefánsdóttir. Vaka composed a Violin Concerto, Sceadu (2018-19), for Una Sveinbjarnardóttir, a Cello Concerto, Gemæltan (2020), for Sæunn Þorsteinsdóttir and a Viola Concerto, Vanescere (2021) for Þórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir. Her works have been performed during Chamber Music on Valentia Island (2022), Myrkir Músíkdagar/ Dark Music Days (2018-19-20-22), Tónlistarhátíð Rásar 1 (2020), Kammermúsíkklúbburinn (2020), and Sumartónleikar í Skálholti (2018). 

Among upcoming projects is an orchestral work, INMOST, written for the Finnish conductor Eva Ollikainen and NEIGE ÉTERNELLE, a series of five pieces for solo cello written for Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir.

Veronique is a member of the Society of Icelandic Composers (Tónskáldafélag Íslands). Since 2021, her works are published by Universal Edition via Scodo.