# Barbara Hannigan

Barbara Hannigan CM (born 8 May 1971) is a Canadian soprano and conductor, known for her performances of contemporary classical music.

## Education

Hannigan's initial musical education came from music teachers in her hometown of Waverley, Nova Scotia, in Halifax.
After growing up in Waverley, Hannigan moved to Toronto at the age of 17. She studied music at the University of Toronto, where her teachers included Mary Morrison. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1993 and a Master of Music degree in 1998. She continued her studies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival, and the Centre d'arts Orford. She also studied for one year at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

## Career

Hannigan is known for her performances of contemporary music. Her advocacy of contemporary music began in her youth, and she sang her first world premiere at the age of 17. As of 2011, she had premiered approximately 75 contemporary compositions. These include Written on Skin by George Benjamin (2017), La plus forte by Gerald Barry (2007) let me tell you by Hans Abrahamsen, Split the Lark (2022), Starcatcher (2022), and several other works by John Zorn. She gave the world premiere of Golfam Khayam’s Je ne suis pas une fable à conter for voice and orchestra in June 2023.
Hannigan is particularly noted for her performances of György Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre (a concert version of a scene from his opera Le Grand Macabre); in 2011 she began to conduct the work in addition to singing the vocal part. Her work in contemporary opera has included singing in the premieres of Louis Andriessen's Writing to Vermeer, Gerald Barry's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant and The Importance of Being Earnest, Jan van de Putte's Wet Snow, and Kris Defoort's House of the Sleeping Beauties. She has worked with choreographer Sasha Waltz on productions of Toshio Hosokawa's Matsukaze and Pascal Dusapin's Passion. Hannigan received critical acclaim for her performance in Alban Berg's Lulu, which included dancing en pointe. In 2014, Hannigan sang the role of Marie in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's opera Die Soldaten at the Bavarian State Opera. For her performance as Marie, she won the 2015 Der Faust (award) in Germany.
Hannigan regularly performs in concert as both soprano and conductor. She has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, Münchner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Prague Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Britten Sinfonia, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and The Cleveland Orchestra. She won the Ovatie 2014 award for her performance as soprano/conductor with her conducting debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the Ludwig Orchestra, The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne.
In 2019, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO) named Hannigan its Principal Guest Conductor. In December 2023, the GSO announced that her contract has been extended until the 2027–2028 season. Hannigan first-guest conducted the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 2022. In May 2024, the Iceland Symphony Orchestra named her its next chief conductor and artistic director, for a three-year term beginning in 2026. She is also the Première Artiste Invitée of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Associate Artist of the London Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (starting in the 2024/25 season).

## Honors and awards

* Personalité Musicale de l'Année (Musical Personality of the Year) (Syndicat de la Presse Française – 2012
* Singer of the Year Opernwelt – 2013
* Grammy Award – Best Solo Classical Album for Crazy Girl Crazy - 2018
* Ehrenpreise, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik – 2018
* Rolf Schock Prize in the Musical Arts – 2018 The jury commented: "Hannigan is an extraordinary and innovative performer with a dynamic and intensive approach to the music she performs, often pure virtuoso stage interpretations, in which she often simultaneously assumes both the role of soloist and conductor. Her repertoire covers an impressive field, with great interest in new music. For a number of years she has also run a unique mentoring project, Equilibrium Young Artists, which focuses on young and newly professional musicians around the world."
* Léonie Sonning Music Prize – 2020.
* Dresden Musik Festspiele Preis – 2020
* Officier des Arts et des Lettres – 2022
* Grammophon Artist of the Year – 2022
* Musical America Artist of the Year 2025
* Polar Music Prize Laureate 2025

### Memberships

* Member of the Order of Canada (CM), one of Canada's highest civilian honours – 2016
* Foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

## Positions held

* Principal Guest Conductor of Göteborgs Symfoniker (2019 - present)
* Première Artiste Invitée of Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (2022 - present)
* Associate Artist of London Symphony Orchestra (2022 - present)
* Principal Guest Conductor of Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (starting in 2024-25)
* Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Iceland Symphony Orchestra (starting in August 2026)
* Reinbert de Leeuw Professor of Music at Royal Academy of Music London (2023 – present)

## Recordings

* Henri Dutilleux: Correspondances for soprano and orchestra, conducted Esa-Pekka Salonen, Deutsche Grammophon 2012 – world premiere recording with ending rewritten by the composer for Hannigan, Gramophone Award Contemporary, 2013
* Louis Andriessen's Writing to Vermeer (Nonesuch)
* Luca Francesconi (Kairos)
* Harry Freedman (Centrediscs)
* Hans Abrahamsen: let me tell you for soprano and orchestra, text by Paul Griffiths, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Andris Nelsons conductor, Winter & Winter, 2016 – Awards: 2016 Grawemeyer Award (Music Composition); Gramophone Award Contemporary, 2016; Diapason d'Or 2016, Musique contemporaine; Edison Klassiek 2016, De ontdekking
* Eric Satie: Socrate with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw, Winter & Winter, 2016
* Crazy Girl Crazy: debut album as soprano and conductor, Ludwig Orchestra, Alpha Classics 2017, repertoire: Luciano Berio Sequenza III, Alban Berg Lulu Suite, George Gershwin Girl Crazy Suite, arranged by Bill Elliott and Barbara Hannigan; album includes the documentary Music is Music directed by Mathieu Amalric – Awards: Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album; Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral, 2018; Klara Award for Best International Classical CD; The New York Times: The Best Classical CDs of 2017.
* Alban Berg's Lulu (Bel Air Classiques), 2014.
* George Benjamin's Written on Skin, 2014. Written on Skin received the Gramophone Award 2014 in the category "Contemporary".
* Stravinsky, London Symphony Orchestra, 2017 (LSO Live label). Conducted by Simon Rattle, performing Alban Berg's Three Fragments from Wozzeck and Gyorgy Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre.
* La Passione, Ludwig Orchestra (Alpha Classics)
* Dance with me, Ludwig Orchestra (Alpha Classics)
* Sehnsucht (Live in Rotterdam), (Alpha Classics) Raoul Steffani, Camerata RCO, Rolf Verbeek
* Infinite Voyage (Alpha Classics), Bertrand Chamayou, Emerson String Quartet, 2023
* Messiaen (Alpha Classics), Bertrand Chamayou, 2024
* Hannigan Sings Zorn Volume One (Tzadik), Stephan Gosling (pianist), 2024
* Hannigan Sings Zorn Volume Two (Tzadik), Stephan Gosling (pianist), Ikue Mori (electronics), Jorge Roeder (bass), Ches Smith (drums), Jay Campbell (cello), Sae Hashimoto (vibraphone), Chris Otto (violin), John Pickford Richards (viola), Austin Wulliman (violin), 202

### DVDs

* Accentus Music's documentary I'm a creative animal, produced at Lucerne Festival in 2014 where she was Artiste Etoile,
* Canadees Podiumdier (NTR 2014)
* C'est presque au bout du monde, a short film by Mathieu Amalric.
* 2014: Lulu (Bel Air Classiques), Alban Berg.
* George Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence, Royal Opera House, Katie Mitchell (Opus Arte)
* George Benjamin: Written on Skin, Royal Opera House, Katie Mitchell (Opus Arte)
* Brett Dean: Hamlet, Glyndebourne, (Opus Arte) 2018.
* Bartók: La Voix Humaine, Opéra de Paris (Arthaus Musik) 2018.
* Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress and Taking Risks: Un documentaire de Maria Stodtmeier, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Accentus Music), 2020.

## Personal life

Hannigan was previously married to Dutch theatre director Gijs de Lange [nl]. Since 2017, she has lived in Paris, France. From 2015 to 2024, she was in a long-term relationship with French actor Mathieu Amalric.