Barbara Hannigan
soprano
She makes guest appearances with top ensembles all over the world and since 2006 has also appeared frequently in the concerts of the Berliner Philharmoniker: soprano Barbara Hannigan, who is one of the leading artists in her field and whose performances are characterised by breathtaking dramatic sensitivity. In addition to her outstanding singing career, she regularly appears as a conductor.
Barbara Hannigan, who studied at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, among other places, is particularly committed to contemporary music: she has now realised world premieres of more than 85 new works – in close collaboration with composers such as Hans Abrahamsen, George Benjamin, Pascal Dusapin, Peter Eötvös, Oliver Knussen, György Ligeti and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In addition to her work as an opera and concert singer, Hannigan has also been very successful as a conductor since her conducting debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 2010. She has made guest appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others, and began her tenure as principal guest conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in the 2019/20 season. Barbara Hannigan, who is committed to supporting young musicians with her mentoring programme “Equilibrium Young Artists” and with the initiative “Momentum: our Future Now”, holds honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto and Mount Allison University. In 2016, she received the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honour, and in 2021 she was honoured with the prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize.
