Hildur Guðnadóttir (1982) is an Icelandic cello player, composer and singer who has been manifesting herself at the forefront of experimental pop and contemporary music (e.g. with the band múm). In her solo works she draws out a broad spectrum of sounds from her instrument, ranging from intimate simplicity to huge soundscapes.
“Guðnadóttir takes a cello and gentle voice and, through software manipulation, scales simple phrases up to celestial heights” – The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music.
Gudnadóttir began playing cello as a child, entered the Reykjavík Music Academy and then moved on to musical studies/composition and new media at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and Universitat der Kunste in Berlin.
Hildur has released four critically acclaimed solo albums: Mount A (2006), Without Sinking (2009), Leyfðu Ljósinu (2012) and Saman (2014). Hildur was nominated as composer of the year and Without Sinking got nominated as album of the year at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2009. The same year Without Sinking was also chosen as one of the albums of the year at the Kraumur Awards. Hildur’s albums are all released on Touch.
Hildur has composed music for theatre, dance pieces and films. The Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, Icelandic National Theatre, Tate Modern, The British Film Institute, The Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm and Gothenburg National Theatre are amongst the institutions that have commissioned new works by Hildur. She won Gríman (The Icelandic Theatre Award) in 2011, for her music for King Lear. And 2012 she was nominated for the Robert Prize (Danish Film Award) for her original score for A Hijacking. She is nominated for the Nordic Music Council Prize as composer of the year 2014.
Among others Hildur has performed live and recorded music with Skúli Sverrisson, Jóhann Jóhannsson, múm, Schneider TM, Angel, Pan Sonic, Hauschka, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Jamie Lidell, The Knife, Fever Ray and Throbbing Gristle.