Jimmie LeBlanc wins the Canada Council for the Arts 2009 Jules Lˆ©ger Prize for New Chamber Music

Ottawa, December 7, 2009 ’Äì The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that composer Jimmie LeBlanc is the winner of the 2009 Jules Lˆ©ger Prize for New Chamber Music for the work L’ÄôEspace intˆ©rieur du monde. The work was created for 15 musicians and electronics, and premiˆ®red in March 2008 in Lyon (France) by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne under the baton of Lorraine Vaillancourt.

This annual award is a partnership between the Canada Council, Canadian Music Centre and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Sociˆ©tˆ© Radio-Canada. The prize is designed to encourage the creation of new Canadian chamber music and to foster its performance by Canadian chamber groups. The $7,500 prize was established in 1978 by the Right Honourable Jules Lˆ©ger, then Governor General of Canada.

The competition for the prize is administered by the Canadian Music Centre. The Canada Council funds the award, selects the peer assessment committee and organizes the prize presentation ceremony. Every year, the winning work is broadcast nationally by CBC Radio 2 and Espace musique, Radio-Canada’Äôs music network. L’ÄôEspace intˆ©rieur du monde will be broadcast at a later date.

The members of the peer assessment committee for the 2009 Jules Lˆ©ger Prize were violinist Parmela Attariwala (Toronto), composer Michael Oesterle (Deux-Montagnes, QC) and composer David Eagle (Calgary). The committee was a ’Äúblind jury’Äù which evaluated the works without knowing the names of the composers.

Of L’ÄôEspace intˆ©rieur du monde, the committee said, ’ÄúThis is a raw and emotionally compelling work, effectively weaving electroacoustic elements and instrumental passages into musical gestures of extraordinary breadth.’Äù

Images of Mr. LeBlanc can be downloaded from the Canada Council image gallery at: www.canadacouncil.ca/news/imagegallery.

Jimmie LeBlanc
Jimmie LeBlanc was born in 1977 in Saint-ˆâtienne-de-Lauzon, just outside Quebec City. He trained as a pop and jazz guitarist before completing his studies in classical guitar. He studied composition and analysis at the Conservatoire de musique de Montrˆ©al, and is currently preparing a doctorate at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. Ensembles that have performed his music include Ensemble Contrechamps, Les Enfants Terribles, Quatuor Bozzini, Pentaˆ®dre, Trio Fibonacci, Hwaum Chamber Ensemble, Kore Ensemble and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne.

In 2006 Mr. LeBlanc co-produced Perdre Pied, an opera performance created with artist Olivia Boudreau and set on a text by Jean-Sˆ©bastien Trudel. He was a finalist in the 4^th Seoul International Competition for Composers in 2007 and took part in Nouvel Ensemble Moderne’Äôs Forum 2008 in Lyon, where he was also in residence at Grame, the national centre for musical creation. Recently he was the recipient of the Lutoslawski Award 2008. He is currently working on a composition for the Contemporary Music Ensemble at McGill University as well as on a new mixed piece for saxophonist Ida Toninato, as part of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology at McGill University for the 2009-10 Student Awards. For more information, visit www.jimmieleblanc.net.

General information

In addition to its principal role of promoting and fostering the arts, the Canada Council for the Arts administers and awards many prizes and fellowships in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural and health sciences, engineering, and arts management. These prizes and fellowships recognize the achievements of outstanding Canadian artists, scholars, and administrators. The Canada Council is committed to raising public awareness and celebrating these exceptional people and organizations on both a national and international level.

Please visit our website (www.canadacouncil.ca) for a complete listing of these awards.