News Releases - 2003
Walter Boudreau, Janice Gross Stein win Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes
Ottawa, June 2, 2003 - Walter Boudreau, musician, composer, conductor and artistic director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), and Janice Gross Stein, a distinguished international affairs specialist and Professor at the University of Toronto, have been awarded this year’s Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes.
Two Molson Prizes worth $50,000 each are awarded each year to distinguished Canadians, one in the arts and the other in the social sciences or humanities. The prizes recognize the recipients’ outstanding lifetime contribution to the cultural and intellectual life of Canada.
In awarding the Molson Prize in the Arts to Walter Boudreau, the jury wrote: "Walter Boudreau is a musician, a composer, a professor, a mentor, a conductor and an artistic director who has made an immense contribution to Canadian culture and musical creation as well as to their international reputation. Curious, adventuresome and enthusiastic, Walter Boudreau has been able to imagine grandiose projects and to make them happen. He is a passionate, energetic visionary of contemporary Canadian music who has to his credit many important musical collaborations, 50 compositions, numerous recordings and music for films. He has commissioned over 180 new works from other Canadian composers, thus making a key contribution to contemporary repertoire. Having collaborated with orchestras and smaller musical groups in Europe, Quebec and the rest of Canada and having received numerous international and Canadian prizes, this multidimensional musician enjoys an international reputation as an outstanding leader and creator."
In awarding the Molson Prize in the Social Sciences and Humanities to Janice Gross Stein, the jury wrote: "Janice Stein’s exceptional scholarship, remarkable teaching career and deep commitment to public education and informed civic debate have made her one of Canada’s outstanding public intellectuals. Internationally recognized as a major scholar on Middle East politics, she has played an active and acclaimed role in peace-building processes in international conflict and in the development of Canadian foreign and defence policy. She uses theory, not as an end in itself, but as a means of helping people think intelligently about critical public policy and social problems. Her tireless work with non-governmental organizations, community groups and the voluntary sector to build capacity and share knowledge exemplifies her outstanding dedication to bridging research, public policy and civic engagement."
Established in 1964, the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes are funded from the income of an endowment given to the Council by the Molson Foundation and now valued at some $2 million. The Council administers these awards in cooperation with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and, following a nomination process, both laureates are selected by a joint peer jury. The winner of last year’s Molson Prize in the Arts was actor/director Christopher Newton, while the Molson Prize in the Social Sciences went to McGill University professor Margaret Lock.
The jury for this year’s Molson Prizes, co-chaired by Canada Council Chairman Jean-Louis Roux and SSHRC President Marc Renaud, consisted of playwright and performer Marie Coleen Clements (Vancouver, BC); arts administrator Patricia Grattan (St. John’s, NL); choreographer and theatre director Brian E. Macdonald (Stratford, ON); Kathy Mezei, English Professor at Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC); James M. Olson, Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario (London, ON); and Jean-Claude Robert, history professor at Université du Québec à Montréal (Montreal, QC).
The Molson Prize in the Arts will be awarded to Walter Boudreau at a benefit event for SMCQ Jeunesse at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur in Montreal on Tuesday, June 3, at 6 p.m. Gilles Vigneault, former Molson Prize winner, will be attending. The Molson Prize in the Humanities and Social Sciences will be presented to Janice Gross Stein at the University of Toronto this fall.
Walter Boudreau
Known as an energetic conductor and composer, Walter Boudreau has been the Artistic Director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) since 1988 and has conducted various ensembles and orchestras both in Canada and abroad. As a composer, he has written over 50 compositions for orchestra, various instrumental ensembles and soloists as well as 15 film scores and two ballets.
In 1974, he won First Prize in the CBC/Radio-Canada National Competition for Young Composers and in 1982, he received the Canada Council’s prestigious Jules Léger Prize for new chamber music, with his composition for brass entitled l'Odyssée du Soleil. In 1991, he received the Paul Gilson Prize from the French-language public radio association in France for Golgot(h)a. In 1998, he won the Opus Prize for composer of the year from the Conseil québécois de la musique and a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
Walter Boudreau has recorded a dozen pieces for Radio-Canada, Société Nouvelle d'Enregistrement (SNE), Polydor, Doberman-Yppan, Centredisque, Analekta Fleur de lys, Port-Royal and ATMA Classique. He was the composer in residence at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1990 to 1993 and co-artistic director with Denys Bouliane of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra's festival Musiques-au-présent from 1998 to 2000. They were co-artistic directors for the highly acclaimed Symphonie du millénaire, a collective production by 19 composers, performed by 333 musicians. On June 3, 2000, La Presse named Boudreau personality of the week for his role in this major artistic event. The concert also received the Opus Prize for musical event of the year. In March 2003, again with Denys Bouliane as co-artistic director, Walter Boudreau launched the first edition of the international Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques festival, in collaboration with McGill University’s Faculty of Music, L’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Chaîne culturelle de Radio-Canada and CBC Radio Two.
Janice Gross Stein
Janice Gross Stein is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto and the Director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. She holds a special distinction as a University Professor and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Janice Gross Stein has authored over 80 books, book chapters and articles on intelligence, international security, negotiation processes, peace-making and public policy. She is the winner of the Mershon Prize for an outstanding contribution to public education on issues of national security. She has also been active as a member of important international advisory panels, including most
recently the Committee on International Conflict Resolution of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., and the Committee on International Security of the American Academy of Sciences. She also served as Chair of the Research Advisory Board to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Advisory Board to the Minister of Defence and as Member of the Board of the Royal Military College.
Janice Gross Stein was the Massey Lecturer in 2001. The lectures, published as The Cult of Efficiency, were nominated for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize in Political Writing, the Donald Smilie Prize and the Pearson’s Readers’ Choice Award. She also provides regular news commentary for CBC and TVO. She is currently working on a book about the challenges of accountability in a networked world. She has recently been appointed a Trudeau Fellow.
General information
The Canada Council for the Arts, in addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts in Canada, administers and awards prizes and fellowships to over 100 artists and scholars annually in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, and engineering. Among these are the Killam Prizes, the Killam Research Fellowships, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts and the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.
For more information about these awards, including nomination procedures, contact Carol Bream, Director of Endowments and Prizes, at (613) 566-4414, or 1 800 263-5588, ext. 5041. E-mail: carol.bream@canadacouncil.ca or Janet Riedel, Endowments and Prizes Officer, at (613) 566-4414, or 1 800 263-5588, ext. 4116. E-mail: janet.riedel@canadacouncil.ca.
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Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Public Affairs Division
Doré Dunne: (613) 992-7302
E-mail: dore.dunne@sshrc.ca