Hildur Guðnadóttir

Hildur Guðnadóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, to a family of musicians: her mother is an opera singer and her father a composer and clarinetist. She began cello lessons at age five and later studied at the Reykjavík Music School and the Berlin University of the Arts, where she immersed herself in experimental and contemporary music scenes. In her early career she performed with the Icelandic band Múm and collaborated with artists such as Animal Collective and Sunn O))). Her solo albums, including Mount A (2006) and Without Sinking (2009), showcased her distinctive use of the cello, voice, and electronics, often exploring timbre and resonance rather than conventional melody.

Guðnadóttir's score for the HBO miniseries Chernobyl (2019) earned her a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy nomination. She composed the music before filming, using field recordings from a Lithuanian nuclear plant and incorporating eerie, industrial textures that mirrored the disaster's horror. Her score for Todd Phillips's Joker (2019) was similarly unconventional, built around a solo cello that evolves from melancholic to menacing, reflecting the protagonist's descent. The score won the Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe for Best Original Score, making her the first solo female composer to win an Oscar in that category since 1997.

Beyond Joker and Chernobyl, Guðnadóttir has scored films such as Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018), TÁR (2022), and Women Talking (2022). She also composed the music for the video game Battlefield 2042 (2021), integrating orchestral and electronic elements. Her concert works include Hvernig býr maður í náttúrunni? (2018), a piece for choir and electronics, and she has performed as a soloist with orchestras worldwide. She frequently collaborates with director Baltasar Kormákur and has worked with artists like Jóhann Jóhannsson, with whom she shared a creative partnership until his death in 2018.

Guðnadóttir is also an accomplished improviser and has released experimental albums under her own name, such as Leyfðu lífinu að snerta þig (2012), which features her singing in Icelandic. She has composed for theater and dance, including works for the Icelandic Dance Company. In 2020 she became the first woman to receive the Nordic Council Music Prize. She is known for using unconventional instruments, such as a halldorophone, an Icelandic electro-acoustic string instrument, which she employed in Chernobyl. She has also advocated for gender equality in film music, speaking publicly about the underrepresentation of female composers.

Halldorophone

An electro-acoustic string instrument developed in Iceland, similar to a cello, that uses feedback to create sustained, drone-like sounds.

Múm

An Icelandic experimental band known for electronic and ambient music, with which Guðnadóttir performed in the early 2000s.