Gudni A. Emilsson was born in Reykjavik, Iceland. At the age of 4 he started music lessons with his father. As a Master Degree candidate at the State University of Music Trossingen in Germany, he studied piano with Wolfgang Wagenhauser and conducting with Walter Hugler. Gudni has also taken Master Classes, Workshops and assisted conductors including: Walter Hugler, Sergiu Celibidache, Kirk Trevor,Lutz Koehler, Rudolf Barshai, Ilya Musin, Myung Wung Chung, Helmut Rilling, John Eliot Gardiner and Bernard Haitink.