Barbara Hannigan

Embodying music with an unparalleled dramatic sensibility, soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan is an artist at the forefront of creation. Over more than three decades, she has forged extraordinary artistic partnerships with the world’s foremost musicians, directors and choreographers, such as Bertrand Chamayou, John Zorn, Romeo Castellucci, Simon Rattle and Kent Nagano. The late conductor and pianist Reinbert de Leeuw has been an extraordinary influence and inspiration on her development as a musician.

The Grammy and Juno Award winning Canadian musician has shown a profound commitment to the music of our time and has given the world premiere performances of nearly 100 new creations. Recent world premieres include Golfam Khayam’s I am Not a Tale to be Told with Iceland and London Symphony Orchestras, John Zorn’s Split the Lark and Star Catcher, and Zosha di Castri’s In the Half Light with the Toronto and Montreal Symphony Orchestras.

Her awards and honours include being the 2025 Polar Music Prize Laureate, 2025 Musical America Artist of the Year, the Order of Canada (2016), Officier des Arts et des Lettres in France (2022), and Gramophone Magazine’s 2022 Artist of the Year, among many others.