Toronto, ON (August 19, 2022) – Legendary music and entertainment producer, educator and social activist Bob Ezrin (Canada) will chair the international jury panel for the fourteenth Glenn Gould Prize. The 2022 jury includes globally acclaimed architect Sir David Adjaye (Ghana/United Kingdom); acclaimed conductor Sir Andrew Davis (United Kingdom); Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter iskwē (Canada); Artistic Director Emerita of the National Ballet of Canada Karen Kain (Canada); JUNO and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter k.d. lang (Canada); jazz and classical trumpet virtuoso William Leathers (Canada); boldly innovative director, multimedia artist, playwright and actor Robert Lepage (Canada); music director of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing Lü Jia (China); internationally celebrated neo-Celtic singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer Loreena McKennitt (Canada); and renowned pianist Hélène Mercier (Canada/France).
The Glenn Gould Prize is awarded biennially to a living individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts. A tribute to Glenn Gould’s artistry and his multifaceted contributions to culture and contemporary thought, the prize celebrates artistic excellence, innovation, and humanitarianism. Nominees for the international prize hail from a broad spectrum of creative disciplines including music, theatre, writing, film, video, radio, television, recording, technology, architecture and design.
The jury will convene in Toronto on September 24 to deliberate and select the laureate. The winner of the fourteenth Glenn Gould Prize will be announced on the 90th anniversary of Glenn Gould’s birth on Sunday, September 25, 2022 at NOON ET at the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning (273 Bloor Street West, Toronto) in the Leslie and Anna Dan Galleria. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed. Details on how to access the livestream will be available at www.glenngould.ca.
The winner of the Glenn Gould Prize will receive a cash award of $100,000 (CAD) and the Glenn Gould Prize statue by Canadian artist Ruth Abernethy. The Glenn Gould Foundation will present a series of public events honouring the laureate and their work in the following year.
Later this year, the winner will choose an outstanding young artist or ensemble who embodies creative promise, innovation and career potential to receive the $25,000 (CAD) Glenn Gould Protégé Prize.
Following the September 25th announcement, The Glenn Gould Foundation presents a free concert at 2 PM in Koerner Hall in celebration of the international jury, featuring 17-year-old composer, violinist, pianist and conductor Alma Deutscher performing with the Glenn Gould Festival Orchestra, an ensemble of distinguished Canadian soloists and ensemble players. Ms. Deutscher will be performing a program of her own orchestra music, both as a violinist and pianist, and will be making her Canadian conducting debut. Every piece featured in the concert was composed by Ms. Deutscher, and all are Canadian premieres. She will be joined by Canadian guest soloists soprano Vania Chan and 18-year-old crooning sensation Noah Kosta.
Ms. Deutscher began playing the piano when she was two, the violin at three and started composing at four. At the age of ten, Alma wrote a full-length opera, Cinderella, which has been produced on three continents to sold-out houses. Two of the productions have been released on DVD by Sony Classical and by the Vienna State Opera. Ms. Deutscher’s Canadian debut performance was presented by The Glenn Gould Foundation in 2018, and in that same year she was profiled on 60 Minutes. In December 2019 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in a sold-out concert dedicated to her compositions. Visit www.almadeutscher.com for more information on this exceptional young musician.
Tickets to the Alma Deutscher concert are free and must be reserved in advance through the RCM Box Office at www.rcmusic.com, by phone at 416-408-0208 or in person at the Weston Family Box Office at the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning (273 Bloor Street West).
The Glenn Gould Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of Canadian Heritage, Power Corporation of Canada, BMO Financial, an Anonymous Donor, and many individual donors.
About The Glenn Gould Foundation
The Glenn Gould Foundation celebrates the life, career, and enduring influence of Canadian pianist, writer and broadcaster Glenn Gould. Every two years, the Foundation convenes an international jury to award the Glenn Gould Prize to a living individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts. Past laureates of the international prize include documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin (2020), Jessye Norman (2018), Leonard Cohen (2011), El Sistema founder Dr. José Antonio Abreu (2008), Yo-Yo Ma (1999), and Oscar Peterson (1993).
For more information visit www.glenngould.ca.
