Icelandic composer, cellist, and Oscar winner Hildur Guðnadóttir returns with her long-awaited new studio album Where to From, out now via Deutsche Grammophon. Marking her first solo release in a decade, the nine-track collection is an exploration of friendship, creativity, and the mysterious ways music emerges — quietly, instinctively, and without warning.
Best known for her Academy Award- and Grammy-winning scores for Joker and Chernobyl, Guðnadóttir turns inward on Where to From, creating music that’s both deeply personal and universally resonant. The project began as a series of voice memos — spontaneous melodies recorded on her phone over several years — which she later developed into finished compositions. “After working on so many film soundtracks, it was interesting to take a completely different look at the way music comes to me,” she explains. “It’s the music that wakes me up at night or flies into my head as I’m driving, walking, or cycling. It always arrives unannounced.”
Guðnadóttir performs on cello and vocals throughout the album, joined by a close circle of collaborators and friends: Liam Byrne (viola da gamba), Clare O’Connell (cello), Eyvind Kang (viola), and vocalists Jessika Kenney and Elsa Torp. The project was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Francesco Donadello, with visual direction and cover artwork by artist and choreographer Gisèle Vienne. The album booklet includes an in-depth conversation between Guðnadóttir and film director Todd Field (TÁR), further emphasizing the album’s spirit of dialogue and shared creativity.
“The friendships that form when you work in collaboration are such a privilege,” Hildur says. “There’s a special bond and a telepathy that connects you with others the more you perform with them.” This sense of kinship extends to her listeners. She describes Where to From as “a creative dialogue with the people who will listen to this music in the future,” hoping it may inspire others to create — as her own music once inspired filmmakers and even a biologist who told her it sparked a breakthrough in his research.
Tour Dates:
Hildur Guðnadóttir and her ensemble will perform Where to From live throughout the 2025–26 season:
- Nov 1–2, 2025 – Volksbühne, Berlin
- Mar 21, 2026 – Barbican Centre, London
- Apr 26, 2026 – Vienna Konzerthaus
- Jun 6, 2026 – Harpa, Reykjavík (as Artist in Residence at the 2026 Reykjavík Arts Festival)
- Late June 2026 – Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam (Holland Festival)
Track Listing:
- Make Space
- Flow State
- Through Light
- Where to From
- Stillness
- Threads
- Echo’s Return
- Time Passes Quietly
- The Distance Between