Quebec conductor Bernard Labadie wins National Arts Award
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 | 11:22 AM ET
CBC News
Quebec-based conductor Bernard Labadie, founder and director of the orchestra Les Violons du Roy and the chamber choir La Chapelle de Québec, has been named winner of the National Arts Award by the Banff Centre in Banff, Alta.
"The National Arts Award celebrates his leadership of one of this country's most important chamber ensembles, but also his remarkable influence on the preservation and development of classical music repertoire," Sarah Iley, Banff Centre vice president of programming, said in a statement released Wednesday.
The $5,000 award, which includes a two-week creative residency at Banff, is given annually to recognize individuals who have made a contribution to the arts in Canada.
Les Violons du Roy performs modern interpretations of 17th and 18th century compositions and has become central to Quebec's music scene under Labadie's direction.
It has recorded 12 CDs with the French and English networks of CBC and toured across Canada and around the world.
"This is a great honour for me, but it also recognizes the hard work and dedication of all the wonderful artists I work with in Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle du Québec," Labadie said after accepting the award.
Labadie is a former artistic director of L'Opera du Québec and of L'Opera du Montréal and is in demand as a guest conductor of both opera and orchestral music.
He will soon debut with the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera.
Past recipients of the National Arts Award, which rotates among the artistic disciplines, include Margaret Atwood, Zacharias Kunuk, Timothy Findley, Denys Arcand, R. Murray Schafer, A.Y Jackson, Maureen Forrester and Anton Kuerti.
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