Canadian soprano, conductor Barbara Hannigan among recipients of Polar Prize

Chris Iorfida · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 8:58 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

Soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan of Nova Scotia was named 1 of 3 recipients of music's Polar Prize connected Tuesday, on with Herbie Hancock and Queen.

The committee for the Sweden-based grant cited Hannigan's quality to propulsion boundaries and broaden listeners' horizons done her creator choices.

"Her exceptional musicality and courageousness marque her 1 of the world's foremost interpreters of modern classical music," the Polar Prize said.

Hannigan's unsocial stature arsenic a vocalist and conductor was a process that began astir 15 years ago.

"I didn't acceptable retired to person a vocation alteration and beryllium a conductor. I simply agreed to a mates of gigs successful 2011 to trial the waters arsenic to whether this was thing I wanted to do," she told CBC's Q successful 2019.

The Polar Prize was founded successful 1989 by Stig Anderson, the precocious steadfast and manager of the Swedish set ABBA. Previous winners person spanned philharmonic genres and person included Paul McCartney, Metallica, Yo-Yo Ma and Ravi Shankar.

WATCH l Hannigan speaks to CBC's Q successful 2019: 

Grammy, Juno winner

Hannigan, 53, joins the likes of Cecilia Bartoli and Renée Fleming among salient vocalists who person won the prize, and becomes conscionable the 2nd Canadian recognized arsenic a Polar laureate, pursuing Joni Mitchell successful 1996.

Hannigan told Q successful 2019 that Mitchell's versatility was an inspiration to her, praising the mode the singer-songwriter "used her voice, nevertheless she wanted and needed to usage it, similar she wasn't attached to a peculiar sound."

It was the latest accolade for Hannigan, who was calved successful Waverley, N.S., and studied euphony astatine the University of Toronto earlier embarking connected a vocation that has seen her collaborate with orchestras astir the satellite and look onscreen successful Zorn III, a documentary movie astir the collaboration betwixt avant-garde composer John Zorn, British pianist Steve Gosling and Harrington.

Her 2018 medium Crazy Girl Crazy earned a Grammy successful 2018 for champion solo classical album. Both that merchandise and 2019's Vienna: Fin de Siècle, performed with conductor Reinbert de Leeuw, were Juno grant winners successful the classical medium category.

Prior to that, successful 2016, she was made a subordinate of the Order of Canada.

On her Facebook page, Hannigan thanked commenters congratulating her connected the triumph and said she looked guardant to attending the ceremony, which is acceptable to instrumentality spot successful Stockholm connected May 27.

The Polar Prize committee receives nominations from the nationalist arsenic good arsenic from the International Music Council, a UNESCO-founded non-governmental organization. According to euphony commercialized work Billboard, the prize wealth for the laureates amounts to 1 cardinal Swedish krona ($141,650 Cdn).

Queen was cited for its "distinctive and instantly recognizable dependable that nary 1 other tin emulate." The radical known for hits specified arsenic We Are the Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody and We Will Rock You were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame successful 2001, a decennary aft the decease of pb vocalist Freddie Mercury astatine the property of 45.

"We are highly and profoundly honoured to beryllium fixed the Polar Music Prize this year," the set said successful a statement. The surviving members are guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass subordinate John Deacon.

The committee recognized Herbie Hancock, 84, arsenic a "jazz scientist" who has not conscionable inspired artists successful that genre but arsenic an creator who "influenced the improvement of R&B, funk and hip-hop." Hancock was won 14 Grammy awards and an Academy grant successful a vocation that began successful the aboriginal 1960s and included a yearslong crook that decennary with the Miles Davis Quintet.