Barbara Hannigan

When Barbara Hannigan sang and conducted Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre in 2011, she was already the leading soprano of avant-garde vocal music and thought conducting was a one-time thing. Born in Waverley, Nova Scotia, in 1971, Hannigan studied music in Toronto and went on to collaborate with Boulez, Ligeti, Zorn, and other notable contemporary composers. But having persevered with singing through chronic stage fright, she found ease on the podium. She went on to collaborate with Simon Rattle and orchestras across Europe, making her recording debut as both soloist and conductor with 2017’s Crazy Girl Crazy. In addition to singing and conducting Poulenc’s La voix humaine (1958) with ‎Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Hannigan recorded her dual roles again on 2020’s La Passione and was appointed the London Symphony Orchestra’s debut conducting Associate Artist. Other notable appearances have included starring roles in George Benjamin’s opera Written on Skin (2012) and theatre director Krzysztof Warlikowski’s acclaimed 2012 production of Berg’s Lulu (1935).