As always, the Gala weekend was a whirlwind but we’re always glad to look back on all the excitement. The five artists who received the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award are:
Composer, conductor and artistic director
Walter Boudreau
Film and stage director, visual artist and screenwriter
Atom Egoyan
Actress and director
Diana Leblanc
Singer, songwriter, musician and humanitarian
Sarah McLachlan
Actor, director, producer and arts advocate
R. H. Thomson
The Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts was awarded to
Michael M. Koerner, and the National Arts Centre Award recipient is filmmaker
Jean-Marc Vallée.
This year’s participants in the Mentorship Program, presented by The Keg Spirit Foundation, are composer
Howard Shore (GGPAA 2011) and Montreal composer
Nicole Lizée. We look forward to their collaboration.
The celebratory weekend kicked off on Thursday, May 28 with a day on Parliament Hill. The laureates enjoyed an intimate luncheon, followed by a visit to the House of Commons for Question Period. They were then invited to a reception hosted by the Speaker of the House, with wonderful speeches made by the Speaker, our GGPAAF Board Chair Doug Knight, and board members D’Arcy Levesque of Enbridge and Simon Brault of the Canada Council for the Arts. Each, in his own way, touched on the value of the performing arts to our country and culture, and our gratitude to the 2015 laureates for their contribution to Canada.
On Friday, May 29, the recipients attended the ceremony at Rideau Hall where Governor General David Johnston presented them with their medallions, struck by the Royal Canadian Mint. Each laureate had the opportunity to speak, and we have captured their inspiring words on film (video available in the “
Award Recipients” section of our website). As always, the ceremony was followed by an unforgettable meal created by Chef Louis Charest and his team. The laureates had the opportunity to mingle, enjoy the beautiful setting and even wander through the gardens. The photos below are a selection of those taken at Rideau Hall by MCpl Vincent Carbonneau. More photos from Rideau Hall are available in our online
photo gallery.
There’s so much more to share about the spectacular Gala performance. Stay tuned for part two of our post-Gala blog.
Photo above: Diana Leblanc with Governor General David Johnston by MCpl Vincent Carbonneau
Top photo: The GGPAA board of directors at Rideau Hall
Teaser photo: Sarah McLachlan with His Excellency David Johnston