The Glenn Gould Foundation has named an eclectic mix of judges for the twelfth Glenn Gould Prize this year.
Topping off the list of 10 jury members is Academy Award-nominated actor Viggo Mortensen, who will chair the jury panel for the first time. Mortensen is best known for playing the character of Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and is also a published poet, painter, musician, and photographer.
One particularly unexpected selection for what some call the “Nobel Prize for the Arts,” is American reality TV show star Kat Von D. The tattoo artist previously starred in LA Ink which aired on The Learning Channel (TVC) from 2007 and 2011. She is also an entrepreneur and make-up artist.
The eight other jury members include:
François Girard (Canada) — screenwriter
Ute Lemper (Germany) — singer and actress
Beverley McLachlin (Canada) — writer and former Chief Justice
Naeemeh Naeemaei (Iran) — painter
Sondra Radvanovsky (Canada/United States) — soprano
Howard Shore (Canada) — composer and conductor
Foday Musa Suso (Gambia/United States) — kora virtuoso and composer
Ye Xiaogang (China) — composer, professor, and Chairman of the China Musicians’ Association
The jury will meet in Toronto on April 11 and 12 to deliberate and select a possible laureate working in music, theatre, writing, film, video, radio, television, recording, technology, architecture or design.
Past winners include Philip Glass (2015), Robert Lepage (2013), Leonard Cohen (2011), Dr. José Antonio Abreu (2008) founder of El Sistema, Pierre Boulez (2002), Yo-Yo Ma (1999), Oscar Peterson (1993) and Lord Yehudi Menuhin (1990).
The winner of the 2018 Glenn Gould Prize will be announced on Friday, April 13, 2018.
Ludwig Van will be on hand, so be sure to watch these pages for all the details when the winner is announced.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include a missing jury member mistakenly omitted from the Glenn Gould Foundation’s initial announcement.
LUDWIG VAN TORONTO
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