Toronto, November 29, 2002 ó Canadian composers Alexina Louie and Alex Pauk have won the Louis Applebaum Composers Award for excellence in music composition for film and television.
The announcement of the winners and presentation of the $10,000 Award took place at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto tonight at an event which also celebrated the publication of Walter Pitman’s new book, Louis Applebaum: A Passion for Culture, published by The Dundurn Group.
The Louis Applebaum Composers Fund was established at the Ontario Arts Council Foundation in 1998 to recognize excellence in music composition of any genre and for composers of any age. The first Award, presented to Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer in 1999, was a lifetime achievement award that recognized both excellence in composition and the impact of a composer’s work on society. Alexina Louie and Alex Pauk are the second recipients of the Award, which this year recognizes excellence in film and television composition.
Out of an outstanding group of eight nominated film composers, representing the finest Ontario-based artists working in this field, the Ontario Arts Council jury unanimously selected the team of Alex Pauk and Alexina Louie. ìTheir body of work is of the highest calibre and demonstrates an ability to work in all film media, with a significant degree of sophistication and originality,î stated Applebaum Award jurors, Pierre-Daniel Rheault, film/television composer; Judy Gladstone, Executive Director, Bravo!FACT/MaxFACT; and the writer, director and film-maker Jeremy Podeswa.
Composer Alexina Louie and conductor/composer Alex Pauk are two of Canada’s leading contemporary composers. Ms. Louie is well known for her compositions for orchestras, new music ensembles, chamber groups and soloists, and Mr. Pauk as the founder and Artistic Director of Esprit Orchestra as well as a leading figure in the field of film music scoring, conducting and production. Together they have written scores for more than 20 feature films, ìmade for televisionî dramas, documentaries, animations and performing arts films. Their film credits include Barbara Willis Sweete’s Perfect Pie (2002), Don McKellar’s Last Night (1998), and Deepa Mehta’s Martha, Ruth and Edie (1988), and their television scores include After the Harvest (Sarrazin Courture Entertainment for CTV, 2001), The Story of Jimmy Valentine (Sunrise Films for HBO, 1984), Democracy on Trial – The Morgentaler Affair (National Film Board, 1984), When We First Met (Sunrise Films for HBO, 1983), and The Life and Times of Edwin Alonzo Boyd (Poundmaker Productions for CTV, 1982).
The Ontario Arts Council Foundation (OACF) manages the endowment that funds the Louis Applebaum Composers Award. Established in 1991 as a public charitable foundation, the OACF manages funds given by individuals to support the arts, and administers the Ontario Government’s $50 million Arts Endowment Fund Program.
Mr. Applebaum’s extraordinary life, which began in April 1918 and ended in April 2000, has been wonderfully chronicled in Walter Pitman’s new biography of the composer, Louis Applebaum: A Passion for Culture, (ISBN 1-55002-398-5), which was officially launched at the Louis Applebaum Composers Award presentation event Friday night.
Published by The Dundurn Group and available in bookstores across Canada, the 400-page biography examines the ideas and evolution of this exceptional Canadian artist, composer, and administrator through a significant period of the nation’s history and cultural development.
For more information contact: Janet Stubbs, Director, OAC Foundation
Tel: (416) 969-7413. Toll-free outside of Toronto: 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7413.
E-mail: jstubbs@arts.on.ca
OAC Media Contact: Kirsten Gunter, Manager of Communications
Tel: (416) 969-7403. Toll-free outside of Toronto: 1-800-387-0058, ext. 7403.
E-mail: kgunter@arts.on.ca