Barbara Hannigan

2026 National Arts Centre Award

Soprano and conductor

Internationally acclaimed for her groundbreaking dual career as a soprano and conductor, Barbara Hannigan is one of the world’s foremost champions of contemporary classical music. Her vocal career is especially associated with new music: she has premiered more than 100 works written specifically for her. She has worked closely with renowned composers, directors, and choreographers, and appeared as a conductor with major orchestras worldwide, establishing a reputation for creating innovative concert programs that broaden listeners’ horizons by interweaving contemporary and classical repertoire in a highly dramatic and engaging way.
 
Ms. Hannigan was born in 1971 in Waverley, Nova Scotia. She studied singing at the University of Toronto with Mary Morrison, and went on to tackle some of opera’s most challenging and virtuoso roles, including Berg’s Lulu and Poulenc’s La Voix humaine, firmly establishing her status as one of the finest singing actors of her time. She has appeared on such prestigious stages as London’s Covent Garden, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Paris Opera, and La Scala in Milan.
 
She made her conducting debut in 2011 at Paris’s famous Théâtre du Châtelet with Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, simultaneously singing and directing from the podium, a combination that has become her hallmark. She is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and Associate Artist of the London Symphony Orchestra, and will begin her tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in August 2026.
 
Ms. Hannigan’s commitment to the younger generation of musicians led her to create two mentoring initiatives—Equilibrium Young Artists and Momentum: Our Future Now—offering guidance and performing opportunities to emerging professional artists while engaging established artists, managers, and composers to join her in supporting young talent.
 
Barbara Hannigan is a Member of the Order of Canada and an Officier des Arts et des Lettres (France). Her many awards and honours include Sweden’s Polar Music Prize, Musical America and Gramophone Artist of the Year, and Denmark’s Léonie Sonning Music Prize. Her 2017 recording Crazy Girl Crazy won a Juno Award and the Grammy for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.