Photo credit
¨Chris ODonovan - Rolf Løvland and Fionnuala Sherry in AIR Studios
Secret Garden Are Back! Eurovision Winners Unveil New Orchestral Hit with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra 30 Years On
Eurovision 1995 winners Secret Garden unveil «Raise Your Voices» with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & Holst Singers. Full orchestral album drops January 2027.
The Norwegian and Irish duo behind the world-conquering «You Raise Me Up» have dropped another sweeping single, this time with the full might of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra behind them.
«Raise Your Voices» lands globally today (16 October 2026), the second taste of Secret Garden’s forthcoming orchestral album, Secret Symphony, The Orchestral Music of Secret Garden performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The track also features the Holst Singers.
Written by Rolf Løvland alongside Irish composer and author Brendan Graham — the very same partnership responsible for «You Raise Me Up», the song deals in hope, trust and faith. Fans of a certain vintage will recognise it: «Raise Your Voices» first appeared on the duo’s 2004 album «Earthsongs», and it has now been given the full symphonic treatment.
And the timing looks shrewd. September’s lead single, an orchestral reworking of «You Raise Me Up», went down a storm, with its video already sailing past one million views on YouTube. The new promo clip for «Raise Your Voices» had its premiere on the band’s YouTube channel today, giving devotees something fresh to sink their teeth into.
The band’s official channels confirmed the release on the same day, telling followers they were “so excited” to announce the single as the next instalment from Secret Symphony (Official Secret Garden Music).
But there’s more. The full album arrives on 8 January 2027, and before that, Secret Garden head out on a Christmas tour in December, stopping off in Stavanger, Kristiansand and for the first time at this scale, Oslo Spektrum. That arena show is billed as their biggest Norwegian concert to date.
Eurovision Flashback: How They Conquered Dublin
You might know them for their gentle, emotional instrumentals that have sold millions worldwide, but Secret Garden once stormed Eurovision with one of the most unusual winning songs in the contest’s history.
In Dublin, 1995, the duo took home the trophy with «Nocturne». Composed by Rolf Løvland with lyrics by Petter Skavlan, the piece was primarily instrumental, carrying just 24 words of Norwegian verse, the rest was carried by haunting violin solos played by Irish musician Fionnuala Sherry, who became half of the duo alongside Løvland.
The song earned 148 points across 23 competing entries, handing Norway their second Eurovision victory and marking Løvland’s personal second win as a composer, he’d previously penned the 1985 winning track «La det swinge» for Bobbysocks!.
More significantly, «Nocturne» put paid to Ireland’s remarkable three-year winning streak at the contest. And there was poetic justice in the irony: Ireland’s own violinist Fionnuala Sherry helped deliver the defeat to her homeland’s dominance.
Fast forward three decades, and that same pair are still going strong, now conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra themselves.
Not bad going for a pair who first charmed the continent back in the Eurovision glory days.
