The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation has announced this year’s recipients of Canada’s highest and most prestigious honour in the performing arts.
The 2014 laureates for Lifetime Artistic Achievement are:
- Anik Bissonnette, O.C – Dancer, teacher and artistic director
- Blue Rodeo – Rock band
- Brent Carver – Actor and singer
- Tom Jackson, O.C. – Actor, singer-songwriter, producer and humanitarian
- Louise Lecavalier, O.C. – Dancer and choreographer
- Janine Sutto, C.C. – Actress and teacher
They were announced at events held in Montreal, Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Winnipeg and Calgary and via a live webcast.
Two more awards
Jean Giguère will receive the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts, and Albert Schultz, C.M. – actor, director and artistic director – will receive the National Arts Centre Award, which recognizes exceptional achievement over the past performance year.
“We are thrilled to honour and celebrate each of these exceptionally talented Canadians who have brought us a lifetime of joy, insight and wonder,” said Douglas Knight, Chair of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation (GGPAAF).
Co-chair of the Foundation, Paul-Andre Fortier added, “These prestigious awards continue to demonstrate the extraordinary pool of artistic talent in this country, as well as the extent to which the performing arts are truly part of who we are as Canadians.”
Mentorship Program
The Awards feature a unique Mentorship Program, a partnership inaugurated in 2008 between the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation, the National Arts Centre and The Keg Spirit Foundation. The NAC and the GGPAA Foundation are delighted to announce the continuing partnership with The Banff Centre, Canada’s leading institution for advanced training in the performing, visual and literary arts, film, television, and digital media.
Designed to unite past Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award recipients and talented mid-career artists, the program serves as a creative catalyst and as an investment in future Canadian artistic achievement. This program is a unique opportunity for the potential laureates of tomorrow to benefit from the creativity and experience of icons who have blazed the trail before them. This year’s mentor is internationally renowned Canadian operatic bass and Governor General’s Performing Arts Award recipient Joseph Rouleau, C.C., and the protégé is Montreal-based tenor Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure.
The NAC is a founding partner of the awards. We also produce the Gala, while our NAC Foundation fundraises for it.
Created in 1992 under the distinguished patronage of the late Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn – then Governor General of Canada, the Awards are presented annually to Canadians whose accomplishments have inspired and enriched the cultural life of our country. Nominations are submitted by members of the public to recognize artists who have made a lifetime commitment and contribution to the performing arts in Canada.
A weekend celebration
Over three days in May, the 2014 laureates will be honoured in the House of Commons, at Rideau Hall by the Governor General, and at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala presented by Enbridge at the NAC on Saturday, May 10.
The Gala will feature superb performances, evocative short films about the Award laureates (created by the National Film Board of Canada), and personal tributes by guest stars.
Join us in celebrating the 2014 honourees.
