Prix d’Europe: Quebec’s Oldest Career-Launching Competition

Advertisement / Publicité

This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Français (French)

Prix d’Europe—the prestigious $50,000 scholarship that offers artists the chance to study at their choice of the world’s greatest music schools—is turning 113.

Dabin Zoey Yang, Prix d’Europe Winner in 2024. Photo: Robert Etchevery

“This is the oldest music competition in Quebec, if not one of the oldest in Canada and North America,” says Prix d’Europe spokesperson Jean Marchand. Founded in 1911, the prize has helped launch the careers of Canadian artists such as Charles-Richard Hamelin, Bruce Liu, and Elisabeth St-Gelais. “The Prix d’Europe,” adds Marchand, “has been crucial for developing musical talent (from Quebec).”

Winners of the prize are part of a larger cultural community, extending far back in history. “When we look at the list of winners since the foundation of the competition, we see names that are very important in our cultural and musical history,” says Marchand. For him, names like Kenneth Gilbert—a great organist, harpsichordist, and pedagogue who won the competition in 1953—testify to the competition’s pre-eminent role in shaping Canada’s cultural landscape.

Bruce Liu, Prix d’Europe Winner in 2015 Photo: Sonja Mueller

It may seem ironic that a competition with so much importance for Quebec and Canada is called Le Prix d’Europe, but this is mainly a testament to the prize’s age. When the competition was founded, “all of the great music schools were in Europe,” explains Marchand. Upon winning the competition, musicians would go on to study at renowned conservatories in Paris, Geneva, and Brussels. “Over the years, the great American schools appeared: Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Curtis Institute. Many of the recipients of the prize were led to study in the U.S.” Today, recipients of the scholarship can also choose to study at a Canadian school, outside of Quebec.

Applicants not only submit an audition tape to show their musical prowess, but also a plan for their studies that testifies to their commitment. Whether they use the funds to cover living expenses in another country or to pay tuition fees with a renowned pedagogue, Marchand stresses the need to support gifted musicians in the early years of their career. “It’s shocking how expensive everything is today,” he says. The ability to provide “financial aid and to encourage youth who work so hard is something we really take to heart.”

Charles Richard Hamelin, Prix d’Europe Winner in 2011. Photo: Elizabeth Delage

While the main prize consists of a $50,000 scholarship funded by Quebec’s Ministère de la culture et des communications, the Prix d’Europe also encompasses a wealth of other prizes. Québécor and the Pierre Mantha Foundation both fund $5,000 scholarships, and there is also a biennial composition prize funded by the Père Lindsay Foundation. Marchand is very grateful for the faithfulness of the prize’s benefactors who, year after year, commit to supporting a prize. He also encourages music lovers to support the competition. Whether by attending concerts or supporting the competition financially, the public’s involvement is crucial “in order to ensure the longevity of the prize.”