“Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan, also a conductor of some note, has been awarded the 2020 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, Denmark’s highest musical honor,” writes Taylor Grant in Tuesday’s (2/5) MusicalAmerica.com (subscription required). “Hannigan is especially known for her commitment to new music…. Hannigan grew up in rural Nova Scotia before studying voice at the University of Toronto… She received further training at the Banff Center, Steans Institute at Ravinia, Orford Arts Center, and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. She … recently starred in the Canadian premiere of George Benjamin’s Written in Skin. In 2015 Hannigan made her first foray into conducting, and now her concert performances are primarily as a conductor…. Future projects include singing in several world premiere opera productions and conducting her first major opera, The Rake’s Progress, with the Gothenburg Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, and her own Ludwig orchestra. This last ensemble is the result of her Equilibrium Young Artists initiative, a mentoring program…. Also on her schedule is an April 2019 performance of Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen’s song cycle Let Me Tell You at the gala where she will receive this year’s Léonie Sonning Music Prize…. The prize carries with it a monetary award of €100,000.”
Posted February 6, 2019
