Hildur Guðnadóttir Brings Two Decades of Music to Full Orchestral Life on 'This Will Be Us'
A long-held orchestral dream comes to life – out now on Deutsche Grammophon
Academy Award-winning composer and cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir releases her new Deutsche Grammophon album This Will Be Us today, 23 October 2026. Marking twenty years since her debut album Mount A, the recording brings together orchestral versions of eight tracks from her early solo albums alongside two newly written pieces. A video for “The Song That Never Was”, one of the album’s new works, is also out now.
On This Will Be Us, Guðnadóttir performs solo cello with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and conductor Robert Ames, revisiting the intimate musical world of Mount A (2006), Without Sinking (2009) and Saman (2014) with the forces of a full orchestra. She also produced the album, which was recorded, mixed and mastered by her long-time collaborator Francesco Donadello.
“The Song That Never Was” joins “Blind Sarabande” as one of two new compositions on the album. The album also features reimagined versions of “In Gray”, “Ascent”, “Erupting Light”, “Opaque”, “Overcast”, “Unveiled”, “Bær” and “Birting”.
For Guðnadóttir, the project fulfils an ambition that began with her earliest recordings. “When I was trying to be a one-person string orchestra, I always dreamed of having more people playing with me,” she says. “I decided to give that young person the anniversary gift of hearing her music played by an orchestra.”
The album includes notes by Guðnadóttir and film-maker Sarah Polley, and features cover artwork by Ólafur Elíasson, The purple sun for Hildur (2026). Known for her award-winning scores for Joker and Chernobyl, Guðnadóttir returns here to the deeply personal music that first established her voice as a solo artist.
The release will be marked by special performances of This Will Be Us at the Berlin Philharmonie on 25 October and De Singel in Antwerp on 5 February 2027, with more dates to be added. The film UNDER, featuring Guðnadóttir and now available on ARTE.tv, premieres on STAGE+ tomorrow, 24 October, offering a cinematic and musical journey centred around the Icelandic composer.
This Will Be Us – Live Dates:
25 October – Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin
5 February 2027 – De Singel, Antwerp
UNDER – Premiere Dates:
A cinematic and musical journey centred around Oscar-winning Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir.
October 2026
