Barbara Hannigan ⁩ has been appointed Reinbert de Leeuw Professor of Music at the Royal Academy of Music.

In her new role, Hannigan will direct ensembles, mentor singers, and offer guidance to students on strategies for optimizing performance.

The position is named after Reinbert De Leeuw, who died in 2020, and was one of Hannigan’s most important mentors and beloved colleagues. He was also a highly respected visitor to the Academy. One of his most notable projects here included a side-by-side Kurtag concert with the London Sinfonietta in 2002, as part of the Academy’s series of composer festivals.

Hannigan is a soprano and conductor who has world-premiered performances of over 85 new works, and has collaborated with such composers as György Ligeti, Henri Dutilleux, Gerald Barry, John Zorn, George Benjamin, and Hans Abrahamsen. She has performed at many of the leading opera house including the Paris Opera and Royal Opera House as well as with the London Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, and Gothenburg Symphony, where she is Principal Guest Conductor.

In a statement, Academy Principal Jonathan Freeman-Attwood CBE said, “Our two periods of concerts and recording this year – and most recently with The Juilliard School where Barbara has been a Creative Associate – have inspired us all in countless ways, but most of all, offering ever-fresh artistic possibilities to our students and enabling them to deliver brave and innovative performances. Barbara is an exceptional force of nature and a brilliant role model. I am thrilled that she will become part of the fabric of Academy life and that Reinbert de Leeuw will be remembered in her title.”

⁦