Awards pay tribute to Canada’s leading artists
OTTAWA— The winners of the 2013 Governor General’s Performing Arts awards include Daniel Lanois, one of the most prolific music producers of all time, and Eric Peterson, a respected veteran of the Canadian stage and screen.
Director, screenwriter and actress Sarah Polley has won the National Arts Centre Award. The laureates, who are recognized for their body of work and for their contribution to the performing arts in Canada, are:
Andrew Dawes, born in High River, who is best known as the first violinist of the acclaimed Orford String Quartet. He is also a dedicated teacher.
Daniel Lanois, who was born in Hull and has worked with U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson and Neil Young, among many others. He is an award-winning producer, songwriter and musician, with a dozen successful albums to his credit.
Jean Pierre Lefebvre, who has made more than 30 feature films and numerous documentaries and videos. His films have been screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Viola Leger, who is best known as La Sagouine in the play of the same name by Acadian writer Antonine Maillet. She has performed it more than 2,500 times.
Eric Peterson, who in a four-decade career has portrayed a First World War flying ace in Billy Bishop Goes to War, a left-wing lawyer in Street Legal (CBC-TV) and the irascible Oscar Leroy in Corner Gas (CTV).
Menaka Thakkar, a pioneer of Indian classical dance who has become a leader in developing appreciation for and popularity of dance from many cultures.
Each laureate receives $25,000 and a medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint.
The winner of the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts is Jean Pierre Desrosiers. He is well known in Montreal’s cultural community for his support of performing arts organizations, ranging from music ensembles to theatre and dance companies, and even a circus.
Desrosiers will receive a specially commissioned work by Canadian glass artist Naoko Takenouchi of Vancouver and a commemorative medallion.
The National Arts Centre award to be given to Polley is for achievement in the past year. Her latest film, Stories We Tell, a feature-length documentary about her family history, premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival, then screened to critical acclaim at the Telluride Film Festival, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.
Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, Stories We Tell won the 2012 Toronto Film Critics Association’s Rogers Best Canadian Film Award and took the prize for Best Feature Length Documentary at the inaugural Canadian Screen Awards in March 2013.
Tickets for the Performing Arts Awards Gala on June 1 are on sale at the NAC Box Office and through Ticketmaster, 1-888-991-2787 or www.ticketmaster.ca.