Hildur Ingveldardóttir Guðnadóttir (born 4 September 1982) is an Icelandic musician and composer. A classically trained

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

, she has played and recorded with the bands

Pan Sonic Pan Sonic was a Finnish electronic music group founded in Turku in 1993. The group consisted of Mika Vainio, Ilpo Väisänen, and Sami Salo. Salo left in 1996 leaving Pan Sonic a duo. The group was originally named Panasonic until 1998. In Dec ...

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...

Múm Múm (stylized in lowercase) () is an Icelandic indietronica band whose music is characterized by soft vocals, electronic glitch beats and effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments. History The band was formed in 1 ...

, and Stórsveit Nix Noltes, and has toured with

Animal Collective Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...

and

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American experimental metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. The band is known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, bla ...

. She has received various accolades, including an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, and a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

. Hildur has gained international recognition for her film and television scores, including for ''

Journey's End ''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry c ...

'' (2017), ''

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

'' (2018), '' Sicario: Day of the Soldado'' (2018),

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for directing three feature films: ''In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and ''Tár'' (2022). He has received three Academy Award nomi ...

's ''

Tár ''Tár'' (stylized as ''TÁR'') is a 2022 psychological drama film written and directed by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett. The film charts the downfall of fictional composer and conductor Lydia Tár. The supporting cast includes Noémie ...

'' and

Sarah Polley Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...

's '' Women Talking'' (both 2022). For her score to

Todd Phillips Todd Phillips (né Bunzl, born December 20, 1970) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He began his career in 1993 and directed films in the 2000s such as ''Road Trip (film), Road Trip'', ''Old School (film), Old School'', ...

psychological drama Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychologi ...

film '' Joker'' (2019), she won the

Academy Award for Best Original Score The Academy Award for Best Original Score is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by t ...

, the

BAFTA Award for Best Original Music This is a list of winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Music, formerly known as the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music, which is presented to film score, film composers, given out by the British Academy of Film and Televis ...

, and the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications o ...

, making her the first solo female composer to win in all three. She is also known for her work on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

miniseries ''

Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...

'' (2019), which won her a

, a

BAFTA TV Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

and a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

Personal life

Hildur was born in 1982 in Reykjavík, Iceland, and was raised in

Hafnarfjörður Hafnarfjörður (), officially Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður (), is a port town and municipality in Iceland, located about south of Reykjavík. The municipality consists of two non-contiguous areas in the Capital Region, on the southwest coast of t ...

. She comes from a family of musicians — her father, Guðni Franzson, is a composer, clarinet player and teacher. Her mother, Ingveldur Guðrún Ólafsdóttir, is an opera singer, and her brother is Þórarinn Guðnason from the band

Agent Fresco Agent Fresco are an Icelandic band that combines pop, alternative, art, metal, and math rock. They formed in 2008, just weeks prior to winning the M%C3%BAs%C3%ADktilraunir. Their first release was the EP ''Lightbulb Universe'', which won at th ...

. Hildur began playing cello at the age of five and performed her first professional gig at 10 alongside her mother at a restaurant. She attended the Reykjavik Music Academy and went on to study composition and new media at the

Iceland Academy of the Arts History Iceland University of the Arts ( is, Listaháskóli Íslands ) is an Icelandic institution of higher art education, located in Reykjavík, which offers the only university-level degrees in the arts in Iceland.Lisa Z. ValdimarsdottirIcel ...

and the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research universiti ...

. Hildur lives in Berlin with her son (born 2012). She is married to Sam Slater, an English composer, music producer and sound artist, with whom she collaborated on multiple projects including ''Chernobyl '' and ''Joker''. She also used to share a studio with fellow composers

Dustin O'Halloran Dustin O'Halloran (born September 8, 1971) is an American composer and pianist. Aside from releasing music as a recording artist, O'Halloran is a film and TV composer, as well as one half of ambient act A Winged Victory for the Sullen. Early ...

and the late

Jóhann Jóhannsson Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson (; 19 September 1969 – 9 February 2018) was an Icelandic composer who wrote music for a wide array of media including theatre, dance, television, and film. His work is stylised by its blending of traditional orchest ...

, the latter being a frequent collaborator, while residing in Berlin.

Career

In 2006, Hildur released a solo album, '' Mount A'', under the name Lost In Hildurness, on which she attempted to "involve other people as little as hecould." It was recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is th ...

in the north of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. 2009 saw the release of her second solo album, '' Without Sinking'', on the U.K.-based audio-visual label,

Touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

. As well as playing cello and

halldorophone The halldorophone (; also known as the dorophone, and dórófónn in Icelandic) is a cello-like electronic instrument created by artist and designer Halldór Úlfarsson. The halldorophone is designed specifically to feedback the strings, making ...

, Hildur also sings and arranges choral music, once arranging a choir for performances by Throbbing Gristle in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. As a composer she has written a score for the play ''Sumardagur'' ("Summer Day") performed at Iceland's National Theatre. She has also written the score for the Danish film '' Kapringen '' (2012), Garth Davis' 2018 film ''

'' (in collaboration with Jóhann Jóhannsson),

Stefano Sollima Stefano Sollima (born 4 May 1966) is an Italian director and screenwriter. He is best known for his gritty crime-drama films such as ''ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards'' (2012), ''Suburra'' (2015), and '' Sicario: Day of the Soldado'' (2018), as w ...

's '' Sicario: Day of the Soldado'' (2018). Her work on the 2019 ''Chernobyl'' miniseries was met with critical acclaim, and won her a

and the

Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media The Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media is an honor presented to a composer (or composers) for an original score created for a film, TV show or series, or other visual media at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was establishe ...

. She composed the score to the 2019 film '' Joker'', starring

Joaquin Phoenix Joaquin Rafael Phoenix (; né Bottom; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for playing dark and unconventional characters in independent films. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academ ...

and

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

, and directed by

, for which she won the Premio Soundtrack Stars Award at the

76th Venice International Film Festival The 76th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 28 August to 7 September 2019. Film director Lucrecia Martel was appointed as the President of the Jury. '' The Truth'', directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, was selected to open the f ...

and the

, becoming the first solo woman composer to win in this category. At the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...

, Hildur won the award for Best Original Score, becoming the first woman to win since the Original Dramatic Score and Original Musical or Comedy Score categories were combined in 2000. She is the first Icelander to win an Oscar. In 2021, Hildur collaborated with her husband, Sam Slater, on the video-game score for ''

Battlefield 2042 ''Battlefield 2042'' is a first-person shooter, developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It is the twelfth main installment in the ''Battlefield'' series and was released on November 19, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Wind ...

'' by

DICE (company) EA Digital Illusions CE AB (trade name: DICE) is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The company was founded in 1992 and has been a subsidiary of Electronic Arts since 2006. Its releases include the ''Battlefield'', ''Mirror's Edg ...

and

EA Games Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

. The soundtrack was released 10 September 2021.

Discography

Solo

*'' Mount A'' (as Lost in Hildurness) ( 12 Tónar 2006) **re-released by

Touch Music Touch (sometimes mistakenly written 'Touch Records' and sometimes written Touch Music, which is technically the publishing side of the company) is a British audio-visual organisation, operating the Touch label. Touch was founded in 1982 by Jon ...

in 2010, as Hildur Guðnadóttir *'' Without Sinking'' (Touch, 2009), with a vinyl version with extra tracks in 2011 *''Leyfðu Ljósinu'' (Touch, 2012), with a multi-channel version on USB *''Saman'' (Touch, 2014), with a vinyl version

Collaboration

*Rúnk – ''Ghengi Dahls'' (Flottur kúltúr og gott músik) 2001 *Mr. Schmucks Farm – ''Good Sound'' (Oral 2005) * Stórsveit Nix Noltes – ''Orkídeur Hawai'' ( 12 Tónar/Bubblecore 2005) *Angel and Hildur Guðnadóttir – ''In Transmediale'' (Oral 2006) *Hildur Guðnadóttir with

– ''Tu Non Mi Perderai Mai'' (Touch 2006) *

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...

– ''Speaks volumes'' (Bedroom Community 2006) *

Valgeir Sigurðsson Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, audio engineer and musician. Biography Coming from a musical background, Valgeir's fascination with recording technology led to a job in a small recor ...

– ''Equilibrium Is Restored'' (Bedroom Community 2007) *

Ben Frost Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-Icelandic musician, composer, record producer, sound designer, and director. Life Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, a ...

– ''Theory of Machines'' (Bedroom Community 2006) *

Skúli Sverrisson Skúli Sverrisson (born 23 October 1966) is an Icelandic composer and bass guitarist. He has worked with musicians Wadada Leo Smith, Derek Bailey, Lou Reed, Jon Hassell, David Sylvian, Arto Lindsay, and composers Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jóhan ...

– ''Sería'' ( 12 Tónar 2006) *

– ''Katodivaihe/Cathodephase'' (Blast First Petite 2007) *

– ''

Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy ''Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy'' is the fourth studio album by múm. It was released via FatCat Records on 24 September 2007. It peaked at number 8 on ''Billboard''s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. The album marks a shift from the group's origin ...

'' ( Fat Cat 2007) *Hildur Guðnadóttir, BJ Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa – ''Second Childhood'' (Quecksilber 2007) *Múm - '' Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know'' (

Morr Music Morr Music is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1999 by Thomas Morr. Most artists on the label fall into the categories of intelligent dance music, electronica and dreampop, but all reflect Thomas Morr's person ...

2009) * The Knife – '' Tomorrow, In a Year'' (2010) * Wildbirds & Peacedrums – ''

River A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

s'' (

The Leaf Label The Leaf Label is a British independent record label based in Yorkshire, England. Initially an electronic music label, releasing mainly instrumental music, the company's approach now features artists spanning jazz and post-punk. History The Le ...

2010) *

Sōtaisei Riron is a Japanese rock band formed in Tokyo in September 2006. Summary The band consists of Etsuko Yakushimaru ( lead vocals, producer, original instruments, artwork), Seiichi Nagai (guitar), Masaru Yoshida ( bass), Motoki Yamaguchi ( drums). The ...

+ Keiichirō Shibuya – ''Blue (Strings Edit) feat. Hildur Guðnadóttir'' (

Commmons Commmons is a Japanese record label founded by Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto. Avex Group, Japan's biggest independent record label, is its official parent company. History Commmons was founded in 2006 by Sakamoto with the help of Avex and ...

2010) *Skúli Sverrisson – ''Sería II'' ( Sería Music 2010) *

Hauschka Volker Bertelmann (born 1966) is a German pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. He is best known for his compositions for prepared piano. Early life Volker Bertelmann was born in Kreuztal, Germany. He ...

– ''Pan Tone'' ( Sonic Pieces 2011) *Múm - ''Smilewound'' (Morr Music 2013) *Craig Sutherland – '' Strong Island'' (2017) *

– ''

Life Metal ''Life Metal'' is the eighth studio album by drone metal band Sunn O))). Through Southern Lord Records, the album received a limited release for Record Store Day on April 13, 2019, and a wide release two weeks later on April 26. ''Life Metal'' ...

'' (2019) * Sunn O))) – '' Pyroclasts'' (2019) * Sam Slater - ''

'' (2021)

Film work

Television

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gudnadottir, Hildur 1982 births Living people 21st-century composers 21st-century women composers Berlin University of the Arts alumni Best Original Music BAFTA Award winners Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Deutsche Grammophon artists Golden Globe Award-winning musicians Grammy Award winners Icelandic cellists Icelandic electronic musicians Icelandic film score composers Icelandic women in electronic music Musicians from Reykjavík People from Hafnarfjörður Primetime Emmy Award winners Television composers Video game composers Women cellists Women film score composers Women television composers 21st-century cellists Icelandic composers