Six young performing artists receive $10,000 Developing Artist Grants.
September 19, 2016
Six young performing artists will receive grants of $10,000 each this year from The Hnatyshyn Foundation to pursue their studies for the 2016-17 academic year. This brings to $910,000 the amount invested in post-secondary grants since the Foundation began programming in 2005.
In announcing the winners of the 2016 Developing Artists Grants in Ottawa today, Gerda Hnatyshyn, C.C., President of The Hnatyshyn Foundation, said: “The 2016 laureates are representative of the wealth of young talent in Canada. The Hnatyshyn Foundation is privileged to celebrate their accomplishments by awarding these grants, investing in and supporting, at the most fundamental level, the development of world-class artists of tomorrow.”
The grant recipients were adjudicated anonymously by expert juries from across Canada. The recipients of the 2016 Developing Artist Grants are:
Matt Lagan of Toronto is the winner of the Oscar Peterson Grant for Jazz Performance. The promising young saxophonist will continue his studies in the Bachelor of Music program at Humber College this year.
Simona Genga of Vaughn, Ontario is the recipient of the grant for Classical Vocal Performance. Simona begins a Masters Degree of Opera at the University of Toronto in the fall.
Sebastien Malette of London, Ontario receives the award for Classical Music - Orchestral Instrument. The young bassoonist will complete his Bachelor of Music Honours Performance at Western University.
Kerry Waller of Montreal is the laureate in the category Classical Music - Piano. Kerry will continue his studies at the Université de Montréal this year.
Étienne Gagnon-Delorme of Montreal receives the grant for Contemporary Dance. The 19- year-old will complete his final year of undergraduate studies at l’École supérieure de Ballet du Québec starting this fall.
Rosalie Daoust of Québec is the winner of the grant for Acting - French Theatre. Rosalie is entering her final year in drama at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Québec.
This year, there were no successful candidates in the category, acting, English theatre. The grant in classical ballet is under review.
In addition to the $10,000 grant, laureates in classical music and jazz may be invited to perform in a concert at Bourgie Hall in the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. The opportunity is made possible thanks to an agreement between The Hnatyshyn Foundation and the Fondation Arte Musica, which features performances by selected grant recipients as part of its youth programming. The first artist chosen to appear at Bourgie Hall was bassoonist Marlène Ngalissamy, 2013 laureate in the category Classical Music - Orchestral Instrument. Clarinetist Antonin Cuerrier and classical pianist Meagan Milatz received their grants in 2014 and performed in January with soprano Anja Strauss. The 2015 laureate in classical voice, mezzo soprano Caroline Gélinas, will perform with pianist Olivier Godin in November of this year.
