Robin Ghosh appointed Director, Finance & Administration at the Canada Council for the Arts / Robin Ghosh nommé directeur des Finances et de l’administration

Le communiqué de presse français suit le communiqué de presse anglais.

Ottawa, January 18, 2010 – The Canada Council for the Arts is pleased to announce the appointment of Robin Ghosh as the Canada Council’s new Director, Finance & Administration, effective February 8, 2010.

Before establishing his own consulting firm in 2008, Mr. Ghosh, a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant, worked for more than 20 years at Canada Post Corporation as Senior Director, Asset Valuation; National Director Finance, Mail Operations; and Director , Information Systems Management, where he developed policy and coordinated operations across six regions. Before joining Canada Post Corporation, Mr. Ghosh worked for several years in the private sector.

Through his professional work, Mr. Ghosh gained direct experience in providing strategic leadership and direction for the planning, budgeting and financial management of large and complex businesses and public sector organizations.

In welcoming Mr. Ghosh to the Council, Robert Sirman, Canada Council Director and CEO, stated “Mr. Ghosh’s expertise will help the Council continue to effectively steward its finances and strengthen its management practices. His interest in the arts and understanding of the role of Crown corporations make him an excellent addition to the senior management team at the Council.”

Mr. Ghosh is replacing Bill Stevenson, who will retire on February 5, 2010, after working at the Council for 23 years.

Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957. The role of the Council is to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. To fulfill this mandate, the Council offers a broad range of grants and services to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations in dance, integrated arts, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing. It also promotes public awareness of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities.

The Council administers the Killam Program of scholarly awards, the Governor General’s Literary Awards and the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Public Lending Right Commission operate within the Council. The Canada Council Art Bank, which has some 17,400 works of contemporary Canadian art in its collection, rents to the public and private sectors.

---

 

Ottawa, le 18 janvier 2010 – Le Conseil des Arts du Canada annonce avec plaisir la nomination de Robin Ghosh au poste de directeur des Finances et de l’administration de l’organisme, à compter du 8 février 2010.

Avant d’établir son bureau de consultation en 2008, M. Ghosh, comptable agréé et expert-comptable (CPA), a travaillé à la Société canadienne des postes pendant plus de vingt ans comme directeur principal, évaluation des biens; directeur national des finances, opérations postales; et directeur, gestion des systèmes d’information. Pendant son séjour aux Postes, il a développé des politiques et coordonné les activités dans six régions. Avant de travailler aux Postes, M. Ghosh avait exercé sa profession dans le secteur privé pendant plusieurs années.

Pendant sa carrière professionnelle, M. Ghosh a acquis de l’expérience directe en leadership stratégique et en direction de la planification, de l’établissement de budgets et de gestion financière d’importantes et complexes entreprises et organisations du secteur public.

M. Robert Sirman, directeur et chef de la direction du Conseil des Arts, a souhaité la bienvenue au nouveau directeur, en ajoutant : « Grâce à son expertise, M. Ghosh saura aider le Conseil à poursuivre avec efficience son administration financière et à consolider ses pratiques de gestion. L’intérêt qu’il accorde aux arts et sa compréhension du rôle des sociétés d’État font de lui une excellente addition à l’équipe des cadres supérieurs du Conseil des Arts. »

M. Ghosh remplace Bill Stevenson, qui prendra sa retraite le 5 février 2010 au terme d’une carrière de 23 ans au Conseil des Arts.

Le Conseil des Arts du Canada

Le Conseil des Arts du Canada est une société d’État, qui a été créée en 1957 en vertu d’une Loi du Parlement. Le Conseil a pour rôle de favoriser et de promouvoir l’étude et la diffusion des arts, ainsi que la production d’œuvres d’art. Pour s’acquitter de ce mandat, il offre aux artistes et aux organismes artistiques professionnels canadiens une gamme étendue de subventions et de services en danse, en arts intégrés, en arts médiatiques, en musique, en théâtre, en arts visuels et en lettres et édition. Par ses activités en matière de communications, de recherche et de promotion des arts, il contribue également à la sensibilisation du public aux arts.

Le Conseil administre en outre le Programme Killam de prix et bourses de recherche, les Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général et les Prix du Gouverneur général en arts visuels et en arts médiatiques. La Commission canadienne pour l’UNESCO et la Commission du droit de prêt public sont placées sous son égide. Quant à la Banque d’œuvres d’art du Conseil, celle-ci compte environ 17 400 œuvres d’art contemporain canadien qu’elle offre en location à des organismes des secteurs public et privé.

Jimmie LeBlanc wins the Canada Council for the Arts 2009 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music

Ottawa, December 7, 2009 – The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that composer Jimmie LeBlanc is the winner of the 2009 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music for the work L’Espace intérieur du monde. The work was created for 15 musicians and electronics, and premièred 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/Société 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 Léger, 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’s music network. L’Espace intérieur du monde will be broadcast at a later date.

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

Of L’Espace intérieur du monde, the committee said, “This is a raw and emotionally compelling work, effectively weaving electroacoustic elements and instrumental passages into musical gestures of extraordinary breadth.”

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-Étienne-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 Montréal, 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, Pentaèdre, 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-Sébastien Trudel. He was a finalist in the 4^th Seoul International Competition for Composers in 2007 and took part in Nouvel Ensemble Moderne’s 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.