Press release,
Amsterdam, 23 September 2025
Hildur Guðnadóttir associate artist Holland Festival 2026
The associate artist of the 79th edition of the Holland Festival is the Icelandic composer, musician and singer Hildur Guðnadóttir (Reykjavík, 1982). She is one of the leading and most versatile composers of film scores, experimental pop and contemporary music of our time. For her work—often intense, poetic, dark and unpolished—she draws on diverse sources, from contemporary composers such as György Ligeti and Kaija Saariaho to minimal music, ambient and noise. She is a multifaceted artist who has collaborated with musicians and composers such as Ryuichi Sakamoto (associate artist Holland Festival in 2021), Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Knife, Animal Collective and many others (see below).
Her music achieved mainstream recognition with films such as Joker (2019), for which she won an Oscar, TÁR (2022), or the HBO drama series Chernobyl (2019). Her most recent work appears in HEDDA (2025), a radical re-working of Henrik Ibsen’s play which premiered earlier this month at the Toronto Film Festival.
At the Holland Festival 2026, she will present Where To From, a new multidisciplinary concert in which live-performed music from her album of the same name (to be released later this year) and Guðnadóttir’s existing oeuvre will be combined with light art by Theresa Baumgartner. This performance is co-produced by the Holland Festival.
The role of associate artist
Since 2019, the Holland Festival has worked annually with an associate artist: an international artist with a broad outlook and an innovative and interdisciplinary artistic practice, who commits to one edition of the festival. The associate artist commits to one edition of the festival and functions as a source of inspiration, a discussion partner for the programming team and shows part of their oeuvre, alongside work that is co-produced by the Holland Festival.
Emily Ansenk, director Holland Festival: 'With Hildur Guðnadóttir we welcome an artist who brings together sound, emotion and imagination in a unique way. Her work gets under the skin, touches a wide audience and is at the same time uncompromising and innovative. We look forward to stretching the boundaries of music and performance with her further.'
Hildur Guðnadóttir on her role as associate artist:
'It´s a great treat to be named associate artist at the Holland Festival 2026. It’s been one of my favourite festivals ever since I played there first in 2013. I have always admired their courageous and exciting lineups, so it’s a huge honour to partake in next year’s programming. It’s a rare and beautiful thing to have the chance to perform with and hear some of my favourite artists in the span of a few weeks.'
About Hildur Guðnadóttir
Hildur Guðnadóttir broke through internationally with her compelling film music for films such as , among others, Joker (Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Grammy), TÁR and Women Talking. She also composed for Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Mary Magdalene, Journey’s End, and Tom of Finland, as well as music for TV series such as Chernobyl, Trapped and Street Spirits.
Alongside her music for film and television, Guðnadóttir has built an impressive solo repertoire. In her four albums — Mount A (2006), Without Sinking 2009), Leyfðu Ljósinu (2012; performed live at the Holland Festival in 2013) and Saman (2014)— she draws an enormous variety of sounds from her instruments, ranging from deeply intimate tones to overwhelming soundscapes.
Recently, she performed in the Netherlands with her band Osmium, a collaboration with James Ginzburg (emptyset, Subtext), Rully Shabara (Senyawa), and producer and sound designer Sam Slater.
Background
Born on September 4, 1982 in Reykjavík, Guðnadóttir grew up in Hafnarfjörður in a musical family: her father, Guðni Franzson, is a composer, clarinetist and teacher. Her mother, Ingveldur Guðrún Ólafsdóttir, is an opera singer. She herself began playing the cello as a child. She studied at the Reykjavík Music Academy and continued her studies in Composition and New Media at the Iceland University of the Arts and the Universität der Künste in Berlin.
The oeuvre of Guðnadóttir includes, in addition to her own work and film music, also music for theatre and dance. She composed for, among others, the choreographer Lucinda Childs, the National Theatre of Iceland, Tate Modern, the British Film Institute, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, and the Gothenburg National Theatre.
Collaborations and performances include, but are not limited to, Skúli Sverrisson, múm, Sunn O))), Pan Sonic, Hauschka, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, David Sylvian, Animal Collective, The Knife, Fever Ray, Throbbing Gristle, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Jóhann Jóhannsson.
Selection awards
- Academy Awards: 2020 Oscar for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) – Joker
- BAFTA Awards: 2020 Original Music – Joker
- Critics’ Choice Award: 2023 Best Score – TÁR
- Primetime Emmy Awards: 2019 Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie, or Special (Original Dramatic Score) – Chernobyl — for the episode Please Remain Calm
- Golden Globes: 2020 Best Original Score – Motion Picture – Joker
- Grammy Awards: 2021 Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media – Joker, together with Sam Slater
- Toronto International Film Festival: 2022 TIFF Variety Artisan Award
- Venice Film Festival: 2024 Soundtrack Stars Award, Best Soundtrack – Joker: Folie à Deux; 2019
- Soundtrack Stars Award, Best Soundtrack – Joker
- Asia Pacific Screen Awards: 2018 Best Original Score – Mary Magdalene, together with Jóhann Jóhannsson
About the Holland Festival
The Holland Festival is the largest international performing arts festival in the Netherlands and will take place for the 79th time in 2026. In June, the festival presents innovative and groundbreaking performances from around the world at various locations in Amsterdam.
Previous associate artists
Faustin Linyekula and William Kentridge (2019), Bill T. Jones (2020), Gisèle Vienne and Ryuichi Sakamoto (2021), Angélique Kidjo and Nicolas Stemann (2022), ANOHNI (2023), Christiane Jatahy (2024), Trajal Harrell (2025).