Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan will be the recipient of a 2025 Polar Music Prize. Rock legends Queen, and jazz virtuoso Herbie Hancock will also be receiving a Prize for 2025.
The Polar Music Prize, which has been given out for three decades, celebrates excellence in the field of music, with an emphasizing on recognizing a pioneering spirit and musical legacy. The ceremony will take place May 27 in Stockholm at the Grand Hôtel with the Swedish Royal Family present.
Each Laureate receives a cash award of one million Swedish Krona (approximately $141,805 CAD).
Barbara Hannigan comments in a statement, “I am deeply moved and humbled to receive this year’s Polar Music Prize. Thank you so much for including me among this incredible and inspiring group of Laureates.”
Previous Laureates include luminaries of the music world, including the Kronos Quartet, Ennio Morricone, Ravi Shankar, Renée Fleming, Miriam Makeba, Wayne Shorter, Sofia Gubaidulina, and many others.
They are chosen by an independent 11-member board who receive nominations from the public, as well as from the International Music Council, the UNESCO-founded NGO which promotes geographical and musical diversity.
Marie Ledin, managing director of the Polar Music Prize, added, “It is our immense privilege to honour and award these three Laureates at the 2025 Polar Music Prize. Queen, a band synonymous with the very fabric of pop culture, have made an impact on music that spans decades, generations and genres. They are a most deserving recipient, beloved the world over.
“Herbie Hancock is a musical legend and tour de force. His music has pushed boundaries in jazz, funk soul and R&B, and we are thrilled to honour his enduring legacy. Barbara Hannigan is a presence like no other; a passionate soprano and conductor of a unique and courageous path. We are looking forward to celebrating all three recipients at this year’s event.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist has carved a unique niche for herself in the world of classical music.
She began her musical studies in her hometown of hometown of Waverley, Nova Scotia. After moving to Toronto as a teenager, she went on to study at the University of Toronto, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s and then a Master of Music degree. Her studies would continue in Banff, Ravinia, the Centre d’arts Orford and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.
She quickly garnered notice for her passionate style, and her striking performances of contemporary music. At the age of 40, she turned her hand to conducting as well, often filling both roles in performance. She has worked with the world’s major orchestras and ensembles.
“There’s a slight splitting of the brain,” said Hannigan. “As a singer, you need to be a little bit ahead, mainly in the centre of the timing. With conducting, you need to be further ahead. It’s like I have two different click tracks in my head at the same time.”
Today she is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, a position she’s held since 2019, and will begin an initial three-year term as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Iceland Symphony in 2026.
“I knew that I had a certain way of leading when I was singing. One conductor even said to me, ‘You sing like a conductor.’ I would show in the body how I was going to land notes and how the line would need to move,” she says.
“It’s play. The word, it’s from our childhood… we ‘play’ music. There has to be this primal, joyful urge.”
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