The character arc of Laufey

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 23 April 1999 in Reykjavik, to an Icelandic father and a Chinese classical violinist mother, with an identical twin sister. Between then and now sit piano at four and cello at eight, two years in Washington and a return to Reykjavik in 2008, a cello solo with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at fifteen, a talent show final in 2014, a singing contest semifinal in 2015, music college finished in 2018, Berklee in 2021, a debut album in 2022, Bewitched in 2023 and A Matter of Time in August 2025. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Laufey?

Two contests she did not win, and then two Grammys.

Laufey Lin Bing Jonsdottir was born in Reykjavik to an Icelandic father who works in finance and a Chinese mother who is a classical violinist, the daughter of a violin teacher at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She has an identical twin sister, Junia, a violinist who is now her creative director. She began piano at four and cello at eight, did ballet and figure skating, and grew up between Reykjavik, Washington and visits to Beijing. Mandarin was the first language she learned, and she also speaks Icelandic and English.

At fifteen she played as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Then two television contests, and she won neither: a finalist on Iceland's Got Talent in 2014 and a semifinalist on The Voice Iceland in 2015. She finished at the Reykjavik College of Music in 2018, where she also studied singing, and went to Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating in 2021.

What she does with all of that is the interesting part. She writes and sings jazz and classical pop, the music of standards and strings, for an audience of people her own age who were widely assumed to want nothing of the kind. She started releasing music in 2020 and put out a debut EP in 2021. Everything I Know About Love followed in 2022, then Bewitched in 2023, which won Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the Grammys and carried the single From the Start, and A Matter of Time on 22 August 2025, which won the same award again.

The moments

Laufey's timeline.

The 1990s

23 Apr 1999

Born in Reykjavik

Everyday. A twin, and a house with a violin in it.

The 2000s

~2003

Piano at four

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Four years old, and the instrument was already there.

~2008

Back to Reykjavik

Everyday. Three languages before secondary school, and Mandarin came first.

The 2010s

~2014

Soloist at fifteen

Milestone, and it changed everything. A national orchestra behind her, and she was fifteen.

~2014

A finalist, not a winner

Setback, and it changed her direction. She got to the end of it and did not win.

~2015

Out at the semifinal

Setback, and it changed her direction. A second contest, and out one round earlier than the first.

~2018

Music college finished

Milestone. Cello, and then the voice, both trained properly.

1 Jun 2019

Which music to make

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: make the old music, taken, or make what sells. Bewitched won a Grammy in 2023 and A Matter of Time won the same award again.

The 2020s

~2020

She starts releasing

Milestone, and it changed her direction. No contest, no panel, no votes. Just the songs, put out.

~2021

Berklee, and an EP

Milestone, and it changed everything. The conservatoire finished and the first record out, in one year.

~2022

Everything I Know About Love

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Jazz pop and strings, on the charts, in the 2020s.

~2023

Bewitched

Milestone, and it changed everything. A Grammy, nine years after the talent show she did not win.

22 Aug 2025

A Matter of Time

Milestone, and it changed everything. The same award, twice, for the music nobody thought her audience wanted.

Reykjavik made the training and Boston finished it, and she is touring the world with a cello in the band. What it has set moving is a correction to a lazy assumption: a whole generation was told it had no appetite for jazz standards and strings, and she has filled halls proving otherwise.

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Hers went out of two television contests early and into two Grammy Awards. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

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Laufey: frequently asked questions

What people ask about her line.

What is Laufey's character arc?

A classically trained cellist who soloed with a national orchestra at fifteen, did not win either of two television contests, finished a conservatoire, and then made jazz standards for an audience her own age, winning the same Grammy twice.

What instruments does Laufey play?

Piano from the age of four and cello from eight, and she sings. She performed as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at fifteen, and studied singing as well at the Reykjavik College of Music, finishing there in 2018.

Did Laufey win a talent show?

No, twice. She was a finalist on Iceland's Got Talent in 2014 and a semifinalist on The Voice Iceland in 2015, going out one round earlier the second time. She started releasing her own music in 2020 without any of that machinery.

What Grammy Awards has Laufey won?

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, twice. Bewitched won it at the 66th Grammy Awards, and A Matter of Time, released on 22 August 2025, won the same award at the 68th.

Where is Laufey from?

Reykjavik, Iceland. Her father is Icelandic and her mother is a classical violinist from Guangzhou in China. She spent two years in Washington as a child, moved back to Reykjavik in 2008, and later studied in Boston.

What languages does Laufey speak?

Icelandic, English and Mandarin Chinese, which was the first language she learned. She also learned to read Danish after studying it for seven years. Her music is written and sung in English.

Where does this timeline of Laufey's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Laufey isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Laufey, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Recording Academy records, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 66th and 68th Grammy Awards.
Release records for Typical of Me, Everything I Know About Love, Bewitched and A Matter of Time.