Toronto, December 15, 2020 – Canadian virtuoso pianist Marc-André Hamelin is this year’s recipient of the $30,000 Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award. This year’s award recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of keyboard artistry (classical music). Born in Montreal, Hamelin is recognized worldwide for the originality and technical proficiency of his performances of the classic repertoire.
About Marc-André Hamelin
Marc-André Hamelin has appeared as guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Montréal Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Boston Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, and appears regularly in recital in the major piano series at Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, and throughout Australia, East Asia and his native Canada. He frequently appears at the BBC Proms, Aspen, Edinburgh, Schubertiade, and Lanaudiere festivals among others.
An exclusive recording artist for Hyperion Records, his discography includes more than 60 albums, with notable recordings of a broad range of repertoire. Hamelin has composed music throughout his career, with nearly 30 compositions to his name.
Marc-André Hamelin is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the German Record Critics’ Association and has received seven Juno Awards and eleven Grammy nominations, in addition to the 2018 Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance awarded by Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada.
(Photo of Marc-André Hamelin : Sim Cannety-Clarke)
Jury Comments
The jury praised Hamelin saying, “Marc-André Hamelin’s achievements are titanic. His technical mastery is supreme, and it is in perfect balance with his emotionally convincing creative expression. He has a phenomenal body of work, recorded and live, reflecting excellence across a very wide repertoire. Hamelin has an amazing musical mind.”
Marc-André Hamelin was selected by a jury comprising of Philip Adamson, concert pianist and professor at the University of Windsor (Windsor, ON); and Kristina Szutor, concert pianist and professor at Memorial University (St. John’s, NL).
About the Award
The Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award was established at the Ontario Arts Foundation by the late Norman Walford, former Executive Director of the Ontario Arts Council, and the late Paul de Hueck, former CBC television production manager. The award recognizes in alternating years a classical or jazz keyboard artist, an art photographer, and a classical singer. The winner is chosen through a nominating and adjudication process managed by the Ontario Arts Council.
Previous award winners in the field of keyboard artistry include David Braid (2016), Lorraine Desmarais and Janina Fialkowska (2007), and Robert Silverman (1998). See the full list of previous recipients.
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Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2019-2020 the OAF paid over $4.25 million in endowment income and $270,000 in awards and scholarships.
For more than 55 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2019-2020 the Ontario Arts Council invested $51.9 million in 197 communities across Ontario through 1,965 grants to individual artists and 1,152 grants to organizations.
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