Gunnar Gudbjornsson studied in Iceland with V.M. Demetz and in Berlin with Frau Prof. Kammersangerin Hanne-Lore Kuhse. He then took singing lessons with Nicolai Gedda and later joined the London National Opera Studio.
Gudbjornsson began his opera career in 1988 when he made his debut with the Icelandic Opera . After finishing the Opera studio he was offered a contract in Wiesbaden where he stayed untill 1995 when he was offered the position as principal lyric tenor of Opera National de Lyon There he sang roles like Nemorino, Tamino, Ferrando, Quint(Turn of the screw) and Rodolfo in La Boheme. He has also in the last 10 years appeared in Operahouses like Vienna State Opera, Munich State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Communali in Bolagna, Welsh National Opera, Theatro Sao Carlos Lisbon, Theatre de Capitol Toulouse, Opera de Marseille, Opera de Bastille in Paris and Grand Theatre de Geneve. His repertoire also includes roles like Fenton in Falstaff, Lensky, Cassio and Titus. He has worked with some of the worlds most renowned producers like Harry Kupfer, David Pountney, Robert Carsen, David Alden, Stein Vinge and Graham Vick.
He also made his debut with the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin as Tamino under the directon of Daniel Barenboim who invited him to join his ensemble in Berlin in 1999 as the first lyric tenor.
In concert and recital Gudbjornsson has made appearances in many European countries. To mention some he sang the tenor solo in Stravinskis Les Noces in the 1995 BBC Proms and appeared in Salle Pleyel with the Orch. Phil. de Radio France in march 1997 when he stepped in at last minute singing the titel role in Schuberts Fierrabras. Since there he has been a frequent visitor of Paris orchestras. He has also sung in concerts with the Strassbourg Philharmonique, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Orchestras of Copenhagen and Stockholm, as with the Philharmonic of Oslo, the Berlin Philharmonic the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and, the Chicago Synphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of RAI in Torino and the Orchestra of La Fenice in Venice. He has given many recitals amoung others in the Wigmore Hall, ROH Covent Garden, Salle Gaveau, Opera de Lyon, Staatsoper in Berlin.
Gudbjornsson has made a large number of TV and radio recordings for the BBC, Radio France, Hessische Rundfunk and ORF in Austria to mention some. He has made recordings for Philips, Olympia and RPO records, BIS in Stockholm and in Iceland he issued his 3rd solo CD in 1998 containing Dichterliebe and Scandinavian songs. He sang the role of Walther von der Vogelweide in a recording of Tannhäuser for Teldec under the baton of Daniel Barenboim and a world premiere recording Johannes Passion by C.Ph.E. Bach for Capriccio in Berlin.