LSM Newswire

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Winners of the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton awards announced

Ottawa, November 5, 2009 Choreographer Tammy Forsythe; collaborative duo 2boys.tv, composed of Stephen Lawson and Aaron Pollard; filmmaker Jackson 2bears; saxophonist and composer Kirk MacDonald; playwright Drew Hayden Taylor; visual artist Adad Hannah; and author Andr Girard are the winners of the Canada Council for the Arts Victor Martyn LynchStaunton Awards.

The annual awards, worth $15,000 each, recognize outstanding mid-career artists in the seven disciplines funded by the Canada Council: dance, integrated arts, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts and writing and publishing. The prizes were created using funds from a generous bequest made by the late Victor Martyn LynchStaunton to the Canada Council. Through a nomination process, the peer assessment committees of the Grants to Professional Artists programs during the 20082009 fiscal year selected the most outstanding professional mid-career artists among the successful applicants.

Tammy Forsythe Dance
Choreographer Tammy Forsythe first rose to prominence in Montreal in the early nineties, creating highly physical theatrical ensemble and solo works. Ms. Forsythe founded her company Tusketdance in 1996. Seven group works followed and in 2003 her septet The Backtrack won the third Prix du public at the Festival international de nouvelle danse.

Ms. Forsythe's multidisciplinary practice culminated with the 2006 installation work The Deergirl Diaries: gestures of combat and passion, a ten-day movement installation at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto. Her complex lexicon mines her interests in pop and folk cultures, music and politics. She is currently working on a new group work, Golpe, a coproduction with Festival TransAmriques and L'Agora de la danse, which will be premiered in Montreal in May 2010. Visit www.tusketdance.com for more information.

2boys.tv Integrated arts
In 2002, Stephen Lawson and Aaron Pollard founded 2boys.tv, a collaborative, transdiciplinary art duo. Together they have created and toured a wide repertoire of epic multimedia cabaret works, performances, videos and installations in clubs, galleries, theatres and festivals across Canada and internationally.

Stephen Lawson has been considered an artistic chameleon, repeatedly traversing the discipline defined boundaries of theatre, music, television/radio, print and video. Upon graduating from the acting program of the National Theatre School of Canada (1988) he became a cofounder of the Winnipeg-based performance troupe PRIMUS (1989-1998) which created/toured numerous original productions. Mr. Lawson moved to Montreal in 2001.

A Montreal-based performance and video artist, Aaron Pollard has created and presented video and multimedia performance works to Canadian and international audiences since the early 1990s. He is a graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Media Division) and he obtained an MFA in Studio Arts (Open Media) from Concordia University. He currently works as the Technical Director for OBORO New Media Lab and Exhibition Centre in Montreal.

Jackson 2bears Media arts
Jackson 2bears is a Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) multimedia artist and theorist currently based in Victoria B.C. His installation works have been presented in solo exhibitions nationally in artist-run centres, public galleries, and group exhibitions in numerous venues such as EMMedia in Calgary, the Vancouver Art Gallery, SAW Gallery in Ottawa, the North American Indigenous Games in Cowichan and The New Gallery in Calgary. His work has also been presented internationally in festivals and group exhibitions such as Digital Art Weeks, Zurich, Switzerland.

Mr. 2bears has performed his multimedia works extensively and has released several recordings on CD and DVD in both solo and collaborative contexts. He scored several independent films, including the award winning short-feature Bloodriver by Kent Monkman and Urbannation. Jackson 2bears is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Victoria.

Kirk MacDonald Music
Toronto saxophonist and composer Kirk MacDonald has received numerous awards and has worked and recorded with many leading Canadian and international musicians in a variety of musical genres. He has performed on over 40 CDs as both leader and sideman, and has participated in many national broadcast recordings. In addition to performing extensively throughout Canada, he has also performed in the U.S.A., Europe, Asia and Australia.

Over 65 performances of Mr. McDonald's compositions appear on CDs, both on his own recordings as well as on recordings by other artists. He recently released Family Suite (2008), an 11 part suite for jazz quartet on Romhog Records, and Songbook Vol. I (2009) a collection of his compositions for jazz quartet, on ADDO Jazz Records, with Songbook Vol. II scheduled for release in 2010. He also leads the Kirk MacDonald Jazz Orchestra, a 19-piece all-star ensemble dedicated to performing his original compositions. He is a full-time faculty member at Humber College in Toronto where he teaches in both the Music Degree Program and at the Community Music School.

Drew Hayden Taylor Theatre
Award-winning playwright, author, columnist, filmmaker and lecturer, Drew Hayden Taylor is an Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations in Ontario. He has worn many hats in his literary career, from performing stand-up comedy at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. to being Artistic Director of Canada's premiere Native theatre company, Native Earth Performing Arts. Most notably, he wrote and directed Redskins, Tricksters and Puppy Stew, a documentary on Native humour for the National Film Board of Canada.

Over the last 25 years, Mr. Hayden Taylor has traveled to sixteen countries around the world, promoting Native literature which addresses topics that reflect, celebrate, and interfere in the lives of Canada's First Nations. His new play, Dead White Director on the Floor, will open in January at Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay. Currently, he is working on a new play titled Crees in the Carribean, and a collection of essays called Postcards from the Four Directions. Author of 20 books, his novel Motorcylces and Sweetgrass will be published in early 2010.

Adad Hannah Visual Arts
Adad Hannah is an artist working at the intersection of video, photography and performance. His videorecorded "tableaux vivants" restage the photographic moment and open a space for the contemplation of time and the human condition. His works have been produced in collaboration with such institutions as the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Rodin Gallery in Seoul.

Mr. Hannah has exhibited at the Muse national des beaux-arts du Qubec (currently on view), the Muse d'art contemporain de Montral, Zendai MoMA, Shanghai, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the National Gallery of Canada, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, the 4th Seoul International Media Art Biennale, and at the Casa Encendida in Madrid. His works are in private, corporate, and institutional collections around the world. Born in New York in 1971, Mr. Adad lives and works in Montreal. He is represented by Pierre-Franois Ouellette art contemporain of Montreal. For more information, visit www.adadhannah.com.

Andr Girard Writing and Publishing
Andr Girard is a Quebecois novelist. In 2007, with his fifth novel, Port-Alfred Plaza, he began a hotel series at Qubec Amrique a fictional series in which readers follow two young Quebeckers who have decided to meet up once a year in a major capital city. The second book, Moscou Cosmos, will be released in the spring of 2010.

In 2008, Mr. Girard received the CanadaJapan Literary Award for Marcher le silence carnets du Japon. A Japanese-style travel diary, this haibun, co-authored with Andr Duhaime, was written following an initial trip to Japan and published by Lmac. While staying in Tokyo for two months, Mr. Girard started writing the third book in his hotel series, Tokyo Imperial. After obtaining a master's degree in literary studies (UQAM, 1994), he went on to earn a PhD in the same subject under the direction of Neil Bissoondath (Universit Laval, 2008). Winner of several literary awards, including the 1991 Prix RobertCliche, he currently teaches French and Literature at the Cgep de Chicoutimi.

General information
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council is committed to raising public awareness and celebrating these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

Please visit our website (www.canadacouncil.ca) for a complete listing of these awards.

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Monday, October 19, 2009

Canada Council for the Arts announces the finalists for the 2009 Governor General's Literary Awards



TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 14, 2009) - The Canada Council for the Arts today announced the finalists for the 2009 Governor General's Literary Awards. The finalists include authors, illustrators and translators from ages 27 to 78. The English and French awards are in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, children's literature (text and illustration) and translation. In total, 70 books are shortlisted.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Canada Council involvement with the Governor General's Literary Awards. A total of 1,541 eligible books were submitted for this year's awards. Thirty-eight of the 75 finalists are nominated for the first time. At least seven of the finalists are under the age of 35 and three of the finalists are aboriginal. A sense of belonging, family, war and religion are themes that figure prominently in several of the books.

The names of the finalists, the titles of their works, and the peer assessment committees' citations for each work as well as the names of the members of the 14 committees (seven English and seven French) are listed here:
www.canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2009/wi128999467161854957

Download images of the shortlisted books:
www.canadacouncil.ca/imagegallery/ga128999385012522209

Additional information about the 2009 Awards is available on the Canada Council website at www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggla.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
350 Albert StreetĮPost Office Box 1047Į
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5V8Į www.canadacouncil.ca

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Friday, September 25, 2009

The Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank loans threehundredyearold instruments to exceptional young musicians

Toronto, September 24, 2009 The Canada Council for the Arts is pleased to announce the winners of the Musical Instrument Bank competition (MIB). The 14 instruments loaned to gifted young Canadian musicians are worth more than $28 million.

Please find below the list of instruments and the winners of the 2009 competition.

The 1689 Baumgartner Stradivari violin, valued at $4.3 million, is awarded to Judy Kang. In 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006, she won the loan of an instrument from the MIB. Born in Edmonton, she currently lives in New York.

The ca. 1696 Bonjour Stradivari cello, valued at $8 million, is awarded to Rachel Mercer. In 2006, she won the loan of an instrument from the MIB. Born in Edmonton, she currently lives in Toronto.

The ca. 1700 Bell Giovanni Tononi violin, valued at $188,000, is awarded to Marie-ve Poupart. Originally from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu (QC), she currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

The ca. 1700 Taft Stradivari violin, valued at an estimated $4.3 million, is awarded to RenePaule Gauthier. Originally from Jonquire (QC), she currently lives in Calgary.

The 1715 Dominicus Montagnana violin, valued at $858,000, is awarded to Vronique Mathieu. Also a winner in 2006, Ms. Mathieu has selected this violin for the second time. Born in Montreal and raised in Quebec City, she now lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

The 1717 Windsor-Weinstein Stradivari violin, valued at $4.3 million, is awarded to Caroline Chhad of Montreal. In 2006, she won the loan of an instrument from the MIB.

The 1729 Guarneri del Ges violin, valued at $4.3 million, is awarded to Nikki Chooi. A native of Victoria (BC), he currently studies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The 1747 Palmason Januarius Gagliano violin, valued at $322,000, is awarded to Andra Tyniec. Originally from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu (QC), she currently lives Munich, Germany.

The ca. 1767 Joannes Baptista Guadagnini, valued at $536,000, is awarded to Min-Jeong Koh. Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in Toronto, she currently lives in Montreal.

The 1820 Joannes Franciscus Pressenda violin, valued at $375,000, is awarded to Kerry DuWors. In 2003 and 2006, she won the loan of an instrument from the MIB. Originally from Saskatoon, she currently lives in Brandon (MB).

The 1824 McConnell Nicolaus Gagliano cello, valued at $375,000, is awarded to Chlo Dominguez, of Montreal.

The ca. 1830 Shaw Adam cello bow, valued at $43,000, is awarded to Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron. Also a MIB winner in 2006, Ms. Beaulieu Bergeron has selected this cello bow for the second time. She was born in Roberval (QC), and currently lives in Toronto.

1869 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin with its Vuillaume model bow, valued at $172,000, is awarded to Jessica Linnebach. In 2003 and 2006, she won the loan of an instrument from the MIB. Born in Edmonton, she currently lives in Ottawa.

1902 Enrico Rocca violin, valued at $214,000, is awarded to Jing Wang. Born in China and raised in Sainte-Foy (QC), he currently lives in Texas.

Instrument descriptions, biographical notes and downloadable photographs of the winners and instruments are available on the Canada Council's website at www.canadacouncil.ca.

Competition
Since last Sunday, talented Canadian musicians have competed for a three-year loan of one of the thirteen fine stringed instruments and the one cello bow created between 1689 and 1902. The winners had the opportunity to choose the instrument they would like to have on loan in order of their placement in the competition.

The peer assessment committee evaluated all applications which included recordings of the applicants' playing and selected finalists. Finalists were then invited to come to Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto for auditions and interviews. The winners were selected by a committee consisting of Peter Gardner, violinist and director of Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra (St. John's, NL); Uri Mayer, violist and conductor (Toronto); and Sophie Rolland, cellist (London, England).

Musical Instrument Bank
Created in 1985, the Musical Instrument Bank acquires through donations and loans fine stringed instruments to be loaned to gifted young Canadian musicians to help further their international solo or chamber music careers. Luthier Ric Heinl and his team at Geo. Heinl & Co. Limited are responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the instruments.

Free concert
Tonight at 8 p.m., the 14 winners will perform in a free concert before a full house at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.

The musicians' performances will be recorded for broadcast on CBC Radio 2's In Concert with Bill Richardson on Sunday, October 4th and on Tempo with Julie Nesrallah at a later date. They will also be broadcast on Espace musique, Radio-Canada's music network, on Tuesday, October 27th at 8 p.m. on Soires classiques, hosted by Michel Keable.

General information
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebration of these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

Please visit our website (www.canadacouncil.ca) for a complete listing of these awards.

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Friday, June 26, 2009

Canada Council welcomes $25 million funding renewal

Canada Council welcomes $25 million funding renewal

Ottawa, June 26, 2009 Canada Council for the Arts welcomes todays announcement that the Government of Canada has renewed for five more years the $25 million in annual funding scheduled to sunset at the end of the current fiscal year. This represents total funding of $125 million over the next five years. Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages James Moore made the announcement in Vancouver, and Canada Council Director and CEO Robert Sirman was there to hear the good news.

This funding confirmation couldnt come at a better time, said Mr. Sirman. It gives the Council a solid base for planning the implementation of the third year of its Strategic Plan 2008-11, and helps stabilize the arts sector during a particularly challenging economic period.

Todays announcement recognizes the important role of the arts in Canada and the value which the Councils support of professional arts practice brings to all Canadians. According to Statistics Canada, there are approximately 600,000 cultural workers in Canada of whom over 140,000 are practising artists. Further, a study by the Conference Board of Canada reported that the economic impact of the culture sector was $46 billion. A special examination of the Canada Council in 2008 by the Office of the Auditor General reinforced the efficiency and effectiveness of the Councils work with the finding: The systems and practices we examined had no significant deficiencies. In fact, the Canada Councils systems and practices have contributed to its success in several areas.

Canada Council for the Arts

Canada Council for the Arts is a federal Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957. The role of the Council is to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. To fulfill this mandate, the Council offers a broad range of grants and services to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations in dance, integrated art, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing. It also promotes public awareness of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities.

The Council administers the Killam Program of scholarly awards, the Governor Generals Literary Awards and the Governor Generals Awards in Visual and Media Arts. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Public Lending Right Commission operate within the Council. The Canada Council Art Bank, which has some 17,400 works of contemporary Canadian art in its collection, rents to the public and private sectors.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Saxophonist Wallace Halladay wins the 2009 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts


Saxophonist Wallace Halladay wins the 2009 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts

Ottawa, June 17, 2009 Toronto saxophonist Wallace Halladay is the 2009 winner of the Virginia Parker Prize, announced today the Canada Council for the Arts.

The $25,000 prize was established in 1982 by Virginia Parker Moore for performers of classical music under age 32, who demonstrate outstanding talent and musicianship.

Saxophonist Wallace Halladay captures the qualities of the modern virtuoso, being at home in numerous styles, from the classical repertoire to the performance of contemporary music. Mr. Halladay has performed the concerti of Ibert, Schmitt, Husa, Scelsi and Donatoni, as well as premieres of Michael Colgrass, Mauricio Kagel and Scott Good. A soloist with the Vancouver Symphony and the Esprit Orchestra, he also inaugurated the KitchenerWaterloo Symphony's Intersections Series.

Mr. Halladay recorded the two saxophone Sequenzas of Berio and the Colgrass concerto for NAXOS. He is in demand as a performer with new music groups across Canada and the United States. He holds a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, and studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Arno Bornkamp. Mr. Halladay has taught at Memorial University and Eastman, and currently teaches at the University of Toronto. He is a ConnSelmer Artist and plays Selmer (Paris) saxophones.

An image of Mr. Halladay can be downloaded from the Canada Council image gallery. For a list of previous winners of the Virginia Parker Prize, visit the Canada Council website at www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes.

Mr. Halladay was selected by a peer assessment committee consisting of Terence Fullerton (Vancouver), Jane Leibel (St. John's, NL), Claire Marchand (Montreal) and Katharine Rapoport (Toronto).

General information

In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebration of these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

Please visit our website (www.canadacouncil.ca) for a complete listing of these awards.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Analia Llugdar wins 2008 Jules Lger Prize for New Chamber Music

Analia Llugdar wins 2008 Jules Lger Prize for New Chamber Music

Ottawa, February 10, 2009 The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that the work Que sommesnous by composer Analia Llugdar is the winner of the 2008 Jules Lger Prize for New Chamber Music. The work was commissioned by Radio-Canada and was premiered by the Ensemble contemporain de Montral+, under the baton of Vronique Lacroix, in May 2008.

This annual award is a partnership between the Canada Council, Canadian Music Centre and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Socit Radio-Canada. The prize is designed to encourage the creation of new Canadian chamber music and to foster its performance by Canadian chamber groups. The $7,500 prize was established in 1978 by the Right Honourable Jules Lger, then Governor General of Canada.

The competition for the prize is administered by the Canadian Music Centre. The Canada Council funds the award, selects the peer assessment committee and organizes the prize presentation ceremony. Every year, the winning work is broadcast nationally by CBC Radio 2 and Espace musique, Radio-Canada's music network. Que sommes-nous will be broadcast by CBC Radio 2 on June 14 and 16 between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. on The Signal, with hosts Pat Carrabr and Laurie Brown, and on Espace musique on May 14 during the Soires classiques between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., hosted by Michel Keable.

The members of the peer assessment committee for the 2008 Jules Lger Prize were composer and pianist John Burge (Kingston, ON), composer John Oliver (New Westminster, BC) and composer Isabelle Panneton (Montreal). The committee was a "blind jury" which evaluated the works without knowing the names of the composers.

Of Que sommes-nous the jury said, "This piece displays virtuosic instrumental writing of the highest order, scored with a deftness that energizes the texture to masterfully combine transparency and density. This work is also characterized by a huge release of breath that supports it as it unfolds in an unforeseeable and always captivating way."

The jury made a special mention of two other works submitted for the Jules Lger Prize. Icebergs et soleil de minuit Quatuor en blanc by Simon Martin, which was premiered by Quatuor Bozzini in April 2007, and Big City, Little City by Michael Oesterle, which was premiered by Steven Dann and the Soundstreams Canada Chamber Ensemble in October 2007.

An image of Ms. Llugdar can be downloaded from the Canada Council image gallery at: www.canadacouncil.ca/news/imagegallery.

Analia Llugdar
Born in Argentina in 1972, Analia Llugdar studied piano and composition at Crdoba National University, Argentina. She continued her composition studies at University de Montral, where she completed a master with Jos Evangelista and a PhD in Music composition with Denis Gougeon.

She has received several awards for her work, including First Prize in the Composition Competition of the Orchestre de l'Universit de Montral, the Canada Council for the Arts Grand Prize for the CBC Young Composers Competition (2002), and the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada Award. She has also received the Qubec-Flandres Prize 2007 and a special mention for Le chne et le roseau in the 2006 Jules Lger Prize competition.

Her music has been performed by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Ensemble Contemporain de Montral+, the Trio Fibonacci, Prmices duet, the Laval Symphony Orchestra (Quebec), the Enfants Terribles, the ensemble S:I.C., the Ensemble de fltes Aliz and the ensemble I solisti del vento.

Le chne et le roseau represented Canada at the 52nd International Rostrum of composers. Several of her works were performed at festivals including the Montral Nouvelle Musique (MNM), the Conference of Contemporary Music (Brussel), the International Society of Contemporary Music Concerts (Flandres), the Biennale Musiques en Scne 2008 (Lyon), the Voix Nouvelles festival (Royaumont, France), Domaine Forget (Quebec), the 2008 Cornerstone Festival (Liverpool) and the Huddersfield New Music Festival (Huddersfield, UK).

General information
In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebration of these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

Please visit our website (www.canadacouncil.ca) for a complete listing of these awards.

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Monday, November 3, 2008

Canada Council for the Arts 2007-08 Annual Report / Le Rapport annuel 2007-2008 du Conseil des Arts du Canada

Le texte franais suit . . .


Canada Council for the Arts 2007-08 Annual Report
highlights support to the arts and new directions

Ottawa, November 3, 2008 The Canada Council for the Arts reported an increased level of support to Canadian professional artists and arts organizations as well as the charting of new strategic directions in its 2007-08 Annual Report released today.

"The ultimate goal of the Canada Council for the Arts is that Canada have a rich and vigorous creative life that stimulates the imagination and gives Canadians the means to share their spirit with one another and the world," Council Director Robert Sirman said in his annual message. "The past year the Council's 50th saw significant progress in moving this vision forward, and reinforced its potential to do even more in the years to come."

In 2007-08, the Canada Council awarded more than $164 million in funding to individual artists and arts organizations in some 680 communities across Canada. This is the largest amount of funding awarded by the Council since its creation in 1957 and was the result of an increase to the Council's parliamentary appropriation of $30 million for 2007-08 and for future years.

"This investment by the people of Canada through their government recognizes the important national role played by the Council," noted former Chair Karen Kain in her message. "It is a mark of confidence in the Council's expertise and capacity to deliver strategic support to artists and arts organizations in every region of the country, and of the impact and value that this support offers to all Canadians."

Over $151 million was awarded in the form of grants, as well as $3.5 million in prizes and fellowships and $9.1 million in payments to writers, translators and illustrators under the Public Lending Right program, which compensates authors for the availability of their books in Canadian public libraries.

The report describes a number of initiatives undertaken by the Council including an extensive consultation which led to the development of a 2008-11 Strategic Plan and an Organizational Design Review to strengthen its capacity to support the arts and implement change by strengthening its structure, staffing and services.

The Annual Report also reports on several statistics including the following:

  • 2,369 grants were awarded to 2,156 individual artists, while 4,597 grants went to 2,329 arts organizations, including theatre, dance and opera companies, orchestras, art galleries and artist run centres, film cooperatives and book publishers.
  • 771 artists and arts professionals from 189 different Canadian communities sat on Canada Council peer assessment committees, which evaluate grant applications.
  • More than 15,993 Canadian authors received payments through the Public Lending Right Commission an increase of 500 authors over last year.
  • 205 Canadian artists and scholars received Canada Council prizes or fellowships.
  • 133 community celebrations of its 50th anniversary.
  • More than 1,200 literary readings in 121 communities took place thanks to Canada Council funding.
  • The annual investment by the Canada Council in the arts was $5.54 per Canadian in 2007-08.

The Annual Report, as well as detailed profiles of Canada Council funding by province or territory, the searchable grants listing and the List of Peer Assessment Committee Members is available on the Canada Council's web site at: www.canadacouncil.ca/aboutus/organization/annualreports.

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Le Rapport annuel 2007-2008 du Conseil des Arts du Canada met en lumire son soutien aux arts et ses nouvelles orientations

Ottawa, le 3 novembre 2008 Dans son Rapport annuel 2007-2008, rendu public aujourd'hui, le Conseil des Arts du Canada fait tat de son soutien accru aux artistes et aux organismes artistiques professionnels canadiens ainsi que de ses nouvelles orientations stratgiques.

L'objectif premier du Conseil des Arts du Canada est de donner au Canada une vie crative riche et dynamique qui stimule l'imagination et donne aux Canadiennes et aux Canadiens les moyens de partager leurs penses cratives entre eux et avec le reste du monde! , a dclar Robert Sirman, directeur du Conseil des Arts, dans son message annuel. L'anne dernire, anne de son 50e anniversaire, le Conseil a ralis des progrs importants en mettant le cap sur cette vision et a renforc sa capacit d'accomplir davantage dans les annes venir.

En 2007-2008, le Conseil des Arts du Canada a distribu plus de 164 millions de dollars en aide financire aux artistes et aux organismes artistiques de quelque 680 collectivits de l'ensemble du pays. Il s'agit de la plus importante somme d'argent jamais octroye par le Conseil depuis sa cration en 1957, ce qui a t rendu possible par une augmentation de 30 millions de dollars de son crdit parlementaire pour 2007-2008 et les annes venir.

Par le biais de cet investissement, qu'il effectue par l'intermdiaire de son gouvernement, le peuple canadien reconnat la porte et l'importance nationales du rle du Conseil , a dclar la prsidente sortante, Karen Kain. Cet investissement tmoigne de la confiance des Canadiennes et des Canadiens l'gard de l'expertise et de la capacit qu'a le Conseil d'apporter un soutien stratgique aux artistes et aux organismes artistiques de toutes les rgions du pays; et il confirme les rpercussions et la plus-value de ce soutien sur la vie de toutes les Canadiennes et de tous les Canadiens.

Le Conseil a attribu plus de 151 millions de dollars en subventions; 3,5 millions de dollars en prix et bourses; ainsi que 9,1 millions de dollars en paiements des crivains, traducteurs et illustrateurs pour le prt de leurs livres dans les bibliothques publiques canadiennes dans le cadre du Programme du droit de prt public.

Le rapport dcrit de nombreuses initiatives entreprises par le Conseil, incluant une consultation dtaille qui a entran l'laboration du Plan stratgique 2008-2011 et une rvision de sa structure organisationnelle visant accrotre au Conseil la capacit d'appui aux arts et d'instauration de changements, grce au renforcement de sa structure et de son effectif, et de l'amlioration de ses services.

Le Rapport annuel fait aussi mention de nombreuses statistiques, notamment les suivantes :

  • Le Conseil a octroy 2 369 subventions 2 156 artistes et 4 597 subventions 2 329 organismes artistiques, incluant des thtres, des compagnies de danse et d'opra, des orchestres, des galeries d'art et des centres d'artistes autogrs, des coopratives de cinma et des diteurs de livres.
  • 771 artistes et professionnels des arts de 189 collectivits canadiennes ont particip des comits d'valuation par les pairs, lesquels valuent les demandes de subventions.
  • Plus de 15 993 auteurs canadiens ont reu un paiement par l'entremise de la Commission du droit de prt public, ce qui reprsente une augmentation de 500 auteurs par rapport l'an dernier.
  • 205 artistes et chercheurs canadiens ont reu des prix ou bourses du Conseil des Arts du Canada.
  • 133 clbrations communautaires de son 50e anniversaire.
  • Plus de 1 200 rencontres littraires se sont droules dans 121 collectivits, grce l'aide financire du Conseil.
  • Pour 2007-2008, le Conseil a investi 5,54 $ par Canadien aux arts.

Vous pourrez trouver le texte intgral du Rapport annuel ainsi que le financement du Conseil des Arts par province ou territoire, la liste interrogeable des subventions et la liste des membres de comits de pairs sur le site web du Conseil, au www.conseildesarts.ca/aproposdenous/organisation/rapportsannuels.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Canada Council Music Prizes Announced

Tyler Duncan, Michelle Yelin Nam and Jean-Philippe Sylvestre win Canada Council for the Arts music prizes

Ottawa, July 29, 2008 Baritone Tyler Duncan and pianists Michelle Yelin Nam and Jean-Philippe Sylvestre are this years winners of Canada Council for the Arts prizes for young Canadian musicians.

Originally from Prince George (BC), Tyler Duncan is the winner of the $5,000 Bernard Diamant Prize, which offers professional Canadian classical singers under age 35 an opportunity to pursue their careers through further studies. The prize was created in 2001 with funds from a generous bequest to the Canada Council by the late Bernard Diamant, as well as through memorial gifts from a number of his friends, colleagues and former voice students. It is awarded in addition to a regular Canada Council grant to an outstanding young classical singer in the Councils annual competition for Grants to Professional Musicians, classical music category.

Edmonton resident Michelle Yelin Nam is this years winner of the $15,000 Sylva Gelber Foundation Award, established in 1981 by the late Sylva Gelber of Ottawa. Ms. Gelber had a passion for music to which she gave expression in various ways throughout her life. In the late 1970s she established the Sylva M. Gelber Music Foundation which helps young musicians to embark on a professional career. The award is given to the most talented candidate under age 30 in the Councils annual competition for Grants to Professional Musicians, classical music category.

Jean-Philippe Sylvestre of Montreal is the winner of the 2008 Virginia Parker Prize. Worth $25,000, the prize was established in 1982 by Virginia Parker Moore. Moved by her profound love of music and the recognition that talented young musicians need such a prize to help them take a leap forward in their careers, the late Mrs. Moore established the prize for performers of classical music under age 32 , who demonstrate outstanding talent and musicianship.

The three winners were selected by a peer assessment committee consisting of Hlne Fortin (St-Nicolas, QC); Kurt Kellan (Brentwood Bay, BC); Walter Prystawski (Ottawa); and Jeremy Spurgeon (Edmonton).

Images of the winners can be downloaded from the Canada Council image gallery. For a list of previous winners of these prizes, visit our web site at www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes.

Tyler Duncan, baritone

Originally from Prince George (BC), baritone Tyler Duncan carries degrees in music from the University of British Columbia, the Hochschule fuer Musik Augsburg and the Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater in Munich where he studied at the August Everding Bavarian Theatre Academy and studied song interpretation. His versatile voice enables him to sing lieder, opera and oratorio spanning from Monteverdi to Mozart to modern music.

Mr. Duncans performances have taken him throughout Europe and North America. Some highlights include his Carnegie Hall debut, Handel's La Resurrezione for the Handel Festival in Halle, the High Priest in the Strauss adaptation of Mozart's Idomeneo at the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Partenkirchen, and Bach's Christmas Oratorio Tafelmusik in Toronto. He often performs with pianist Erika Switzer giving recitals in Canada, Germany, Sweden, France and South Africa. Radio recordings can often be heard on the CBC and BR (Bavarian Radio) as well as a recent performance on WGBH Boston. He recently won the 2008 Oratorio Society of New York's Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition. In the 2008/2009 season, his performances will include John Blows Venus and Adonis for the Boston Early Music Festival, Haydns Creation with Orchestre symphonique de Qubec, and Bachs Ich habe genug with Symphony Nova Scotia. www.tylerduncan.ca

Michelle Yelin Nam, pianist

Canadian Korean pianist Michelle Yelin Nam debuted professionally with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 2006. She has completed her undergraduate studies at McGill University and is currently pursuing her Masters degree at the Juilliard School. Since 2006, she has received scholarships from Anne Burrows Fund, Winspear Foundation. She is in demand as soloist in Canada and abroad. Praised for her silvery clarity, (Montreal Gazette) she has been described as playing in the manner of the greats, before reaching their age (La Presse).

Ms. Nam recently won the grand prize at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montral Standard Life Competition (2006) and has since played regularly with the OSM, under the conducting of Heinrich Schiff and Jacques Lacombe. She was featured in a DVD for CBC Records and has had solo appearances at the House of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada (2007) and Orford Art center (2008). In May 2009, she will work with the OSM and perform Mozart Triple Piano Concerto under the direction of Kent Nagano along with Andr Laplante and Alain Lefvre, and will also interpret a world premiere of a commissioned concerto by Jacques Htu.

Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, pianist

Sainte-Julie pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, 26, came to recognition in 2000, winning first prize at the Montreal Symphony Competition and the Peoples Choice Award. The next year, he won second prize at the CBC Young Performer Competition. Since then, Jean-Philippe continued to win awards such as first prize in the Canadian Music Competition and many concerto competitions including the Orchestre Symphonique de la Montrgie, Glenn Gould Schools Concerto Competition and Concertino Praga Competition. Recently, Mr. Sylvestre won first prize at the Concours des Journes de la Musique Franaise. Ķthe young Sylvestre already possesses a complete technique, an extremely powerful playing with a great sonority" (Claude Gingras, Montreals La Presse).

He has appeared at such venues as the Concertgebouw, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier and Salle Pierre-Mercure, Bradshaws Amphitheatre, George Weston Hall and Ottawas NAC and performed with the Montreal Symphony, Orchestre Metropolitan, Longueuil, Trois-Rivire and Royal Conservatory Orchestra. Jean-Philippe has been broadcast by BravoTV, CBC and SRC. A graduate of cole de musique Vincent-dIndy and University of Montreal, he obtained a Bachelor and an Artist Diploma from Torontos Glenn Gould School. He studied at the International Accademia Pianistica in Italy. Equally comfortable in jazz, he lives in Berlin, studying with Louis Lortie. www.jeanphilippesylvestre.com

General information

In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council for the Arts is committed to raising public awareness and celebration of these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

Please visit our website (www.canadacouncil.ca) for a complete listing of these awards.


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