Barbara Hannigan, soprano

Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan received her Bachelor of Music (1993) and Master of Music (1998) degrees from the University of Toronto where she studied with Mary Morrison. Further studies took place at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Steans Institute for Young Artists at Ravinia, the Centre d’arts Orford, and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in Holland where she studied with Meinard Kraak.

Her operatic roles include Lucia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurydice, Anne Truelove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, the title role in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Larinda in Hasse’s Larinda e Vanesio as well as the title roles in Hasse’s La Contadina and La Fantesca, Bastienne in Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne, Arethuze in Charpentier’s Acteon, Armida in Händel’s Rinaldo and Dalinda in Händel’s Ariodante.

She sang the world premiere of operas including Louis Andriessen’s Writing to Vermeer (Saskia) with the Netherlands Opera, Jan van de Putte’s Wet Snow (Liza) with Holland’s National Reisopera, Michel van der Aa’s solo opera One for soprano, film and electronics, and Gabrielle in the world première of Gerald Barry’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant at English National Opera. In 2007 she made her debut at “La Fenice” with the world premiere of Lucca Mosca’s opera “Signor Goldoni” (role: Despina)

She has received much acclaim for her performances of Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, a tour de force for soprano and orchestra which she has sung with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Asko and Schönberg Ensembles of Amsterdam, with further performances in Cologne and Vienna.

She made her BBC Proms debut in August 2003, performing Ligeti’s Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures with the London Sinfonietta conducted by Peter Eötvös, and sang Ligeti’s Requiem in 2004 with the Bamberger Symphoniker conducted by Jonathan Nott at the Salzburg Festival and in 2007 with the Berliner Philharmoniker. In 2006 she sang Mysteries of the Macabre, Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York.

Dutilleux’s Correspondances for soprano and orchestra has become a major work in her repertoire, which she has sung with the Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw in 2003, and more recently with the CBSO conducted by Sakari Oramo at the 2005 BBC Proms, the Helsinki Philharmonic conducted by Esa Pekka Salonen, the Orchestre National de France conducted by Kurt Masur, the Toronto Symphony conducted by Peter Oundjian, Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and at the Palais Garnier with the Paris Opera Orchestra and Oliver Knussen, with further performances planned for Madrid, Oslo and Cardiff.

She has performed with orchestras and ensembles including the Berliner Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, l’Orchestre National de France, the orchestra of the Paris Opera, Helsinki Philharmonic, Holland’s Radio Symphony Orchestra, Radio Chamber Orchestra and Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, l’Orchestre National de France, Bamberger Symphoniker, the Radio Symphony Orchestras of Frankfurt and Finland, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, the SWR German Radio Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Musikfabrik, the Asko and Schoenberg Ensembles, and the Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra, in repertoire ranging from Händel, Bach, and Mozart, to Knussen, Dutilleux and Ligeti. In the 2005-06 season, she was invited by Maurizio Pollini to sing Luigi Nono’s A floresta at concerts in Tokyo, Vienna and Bologna.

She has worked with conductors including Reinbert de Leeuw, Esa Pekka Salonen, Sir Simon Rattle, Kurt Masur, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Ingo Metzmacher, Peter Oundjian, Oliver Knussen, Jonathan Nott, Peter Rundel, Michael Gielen, and Peter Eötvös, and has had the privilege of working with composers including György Ligeti, Louis Andriessen, Gerald Barry, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Oliver Knussen and Henri Dutilleux.

Recent engagements include productions at La Monnaie (Ligeti, Grand Macabre),  the Aix en Provence Festival ( World premiere of Dusapin’s opera “Passion”), Berlin Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Atlanta and Toronto Symphony Orchestra and concerts with Maurizio Pollini in Rome, Brussels, Zürich, Paris and Milan (La Scala). Upcoming engagements include productions at La Monnaie (Hosakawa, Matsukaze), a new opera by George Benjamin at Aix en Provence and a contert tour with Ensemble Intercontemporain under Pierre Boulez (Pli selon Pli), concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle and many more. Besides her activities in concert and opera, Barbara Hannigan presents also liedrecitals with pianist Reinbert de Leeuw.