"Telling stories about ourselves is like a highway that goes from coast to coast," says the celebrated film producer Robert Lantos, one of this year's recipients of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. "It's one of the ties that bind."
In a career spanning over four decades, Lantos has helped develop many of this country’s leading filmmakers and adapted important Canadian literary works for the screen. This year Lantos is one of five Canadian artists who will be awarded Lifetime Artistic Achievement Awards and honoured at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) Gala.
The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards provide a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the artists that have helped shape us as Canadians.
The other recipients are singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark, choreographer Marie Chouinard, tenor Ben Heppner and playwright Susanne Lebeau. Grammy and Juno Award-winning singer Michael Bublé will receive the National Arts Centre Award. The Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts will be awarded to John D McKellar.
In addition to recognizing lifetime achievement, the GGPAA Foundation offers creative guidance to a talented mid-career artist . This year playwright Benjamin Pradet will be mentored by veteran actor, director and arts advocate Albert Millaire as part of the GGPAA Mentorship Program.
Each of these artists has inspired and enriched the cultural life of our country and showcased Canadian talent abroad. As GGPAA Co-Chair Paul-André Fortier put it: "Imagining a world without culture is like having a world without the sun."
