Hildur Guðnadóttir has released “Floods (Version for Orchestra),” the second orchestral reworking shared ahead of her forthcoming album This Will Be Us. The new track follows August’s “Elevation (Version for Orchestra),” while This Will Be Us is scheduled for release on October 23, 2026. Both recordings are being presented as standalone companions to the album as Guðnadóttir revisits music from across two decades of her career.
“Floods (Version for Orchestra)” was recorded with conductor Robert Ames and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Guðnadóttir performs solo cello on the track and also served as producer, while longtime collaborator Francesco Donadello recorded, mixed, and mastered the new version. The orchestral project realizes an idea Guðnadóttir said dates back to her earlier records. “When I was recording my earlier albums, trying to be a one-person orchestra, I always dreamed of having more people playing with me,” she said. “Now, twenty years later, I decided to make this dream come true.”
The release will be followed by a series of This Will Be Us performances beginning at Den Norske Opera in Oslo on October 18. Guðnadóttir will then perform at the Berlin Philharmonie on October 25 before a February 5, 2027 date at De Singel in Antwerp. A STAGE+ program centered on the Icelandic composer is also scheduled to premiere on October 24. The project follows Guðnadóttir’s work on Where to From, which she presented at Berlin’s Volksbühne in November 2025.
Guðnadóttir has also composed the music for Benedict Andrews’ Electra/Persona, starring Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, and Ella Lily Hyland at London’s National Theatre through October 10. On October 10, she will appear as Guest of Honour at the 26th World Soundtrack Awards during Film Fest Gent, where she is also nominated for Film Composer of the Year for her work on The Bride!, Hedda, and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. The World Soundtrack Academy previously named Guðnadóttir Television Composer of the Year in 2019 and Film Composer of the Year in 2020.
