Meet the associate Artist: Hildur Guðnadóttir

Holland Festival and Felix Meritis are organising a programme centred on the work of Hildur Guðnadóttir, associate artist of the Holland Festival 2026. Drawing on her sources of inspiration and her own work, Guðnadóttir will speak with Aafke Romeijn about the breaking down of categorisations, the power of composition and the scope of her collaborations.

Her music – often intense, poetic and unpolished – moves effortlessly from intimate and vulnerable to overwhelming and compelling. This versatility is also reflected in four different productions at the festival: her latest show, Where To From; a full-length concert at the Concertgebouw with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra; a free performance in Westerpark featuring a new composition written especially for the occasion; and the music of Chernobyl at Gashouder.

‘Music can touch our innermost selves. It can transform the space we find ourselves in, our mood and who we are.’ – Hildur Guðnadóttir

Line-up

Hildur Guðnadóttir

Hildur Guðnadóttir made her international breakthrough with her compelling film scores for films including Joker (Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Grammy), TÁR and Women Talking. She has also composed music for Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Mary Magdalene, Journey’s End and Tom of Finland, as well as writing music for TV series such as Chernobyl, Trapped and Street Spirits.

Alongside her music for film and television, Guðnadóttir has built up 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 manages to draw an enormous variety of sounds from her instruments, ranging from the very intimate to overwhelming soundscapes.

She recently 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.

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Moderator

Aafke Romijn

Aafke Romeijn makes Dutch-language electropop. Through collaborations with artists including Spinvis, Sef and Isabelle A, she has had several radio hits in the Netherlands and Flanders. As an author, Romeijn has published several novels, poetry collections and non-fiction works. Her science fiction novel Concept M (Arbeiderspers, 2018) was nominated for the Best Book for Young People Award, and was published in 2024 in the Grote Lijsters series. Together with her partner Bram Ieven, Romeijn produces documentary podcast series for KRO-NCRV and NPO Luister, with Monsters In Het Bos generating over a million streams.

Foto by Jasmin Hirschback