Tenor Finnur Bjarnason was announced as the Director of Iceland’s new National Opera, for an initial 5-year term. For the first time in Iceland’s history, opera has a lawfully guaranteed position alongside drama and dance.

The opera was created by legislation in the Althing, the Finnish patrliament in July 2025. The new Icelandic National Opera is a publicly run cultural institution and operates under the National Theatre.

Iceland ha no opera since 2024 when the former Icelandic Opera (Íslenska óperan) founded in the late 1970s, ceased operations due to a political decision. In 2023, the Icelandic government announced it would cease funding the Icelandic Opera after 2024 in order to establish a new national opera company, with plans to start operating in 2025.