Around the turn of the century 1900 the shop manager in Hæstakaupstaðarverslun was the composer, Jón Laxdal. He both organised a choir and founded a brass band. One could say that this was the point at which music took off in the town of Ísafjörður. A choir had been operating since 1891, conducted by Árni Sveinsson, a carpenter and merchant. Jón Laxdal took over as conductor and produced singing events of various kinds.

After 1910 the composer Jónas Tómasson was the prime mover in the town's music life. He conducted choirs, played the church organ, taught singing in the junior school and ran a music school in the town 1911-1918. Jónas Tómasson conducted the Ísafjörður male voice choir and Sunnukór choir for many years. Sunnukór is a mixed choir founded on 25 January 1934, Sólardagur Ísfirðinga (the first day of the year when the sun becomes visible), which is still active today.

The Ísafjörður Music School opened its doors to students in the autumn of 1948. The headmaster was Ragnar H. Ragnar. Ragnar H. also ran the town's choirs. He was a church organist and taught singing at the school. The music school is the main pillar of Ísafjörður cultural life and it runs annexes at Þingeyri, Flateyri and Suðureyri. There is also the Rögnvaldur Ólafsson School of Arts in Ísafjörður where there is teaching on musical instruments and also artistic dancing. There is a number of other choirs in the town in addition to Sunnukór, for example the Ernir Male voice choir, the women's choir, the church choir and the music school choir.