The Canada Council for the Arts has announced the winners of the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting and the Virginia Parker Prize. The latter prize recognizes artistic merit and career achievement in the field of classical music.
Benoit Gauthier, artistic director and conductor for the Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord is the winner of the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award, and Toronto’s own Michael Bridge has won the Virginia Parker Prize.
The Jean-Marie Beaudet Award comes with a $20,000 CAD cash prize, and the Victoria Parker Prize winner receives $30,000 CAD.
Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting ($20,000)
The Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting is given to a promising young Canadian conductor who has demonstrated exemplary work.
Benoit Gauthier, artistic director and conductor for the Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord (OSCN)
At the age of 16, Benoit Gauthier founded the Orchestre symphonique de la Côte-Nord (OSCN) in 2012 to fill a gap in the arts in his region. He remains the artistic director and conductor today. OSCN has performed major works such as Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Mahler and Beethoven symphonies, and toured the region.
Benoit earned his undergraduate degree from the Quebec Conservatory in flute performance and orchestral conducting. He went on to study with Bramwell Tovey, Marin Alsop, and other prominent conductors.
From 2021 until 2024, he was part of the Orchestre Métropolitain’s Orchestral Conducting Academy, among the very first group of artists to participate. There, he worked with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Currently a Conducting Fellow at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Benoit has also worked with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Orchestre symphonique de Laval.
Virginia Parker Prize ($30,000)
The Virginia Parker Prize is presented to a singer, instrumentalist or music conductor in the classical music field who is under the age of 32, and who has demonstrated exceptional talent and musicianship, and who makes a noticeable contribution to artistic life in Canada and internationally.
Michael Bridge, professional accordionist and Rebanks Fellow at the Glenn Gould School, in Toronto, Ontario
Michael Bridges has taken the accordion and made it a credible part of the classical music world. He performs on both the acoustic and digital accordion, and has won accolades in a number of competitions throughout Canada and internationally.
Michael studied at the Glenn Gould School as a Rebanks Fellow, and subsequently earned a DMA in accordion performance from the University of Toronto. He has built a busy career as a performer, including solo appearances as well as being a member of Bridge & Wolak and Ladom Ensemble.
He has performed across Canada and the US, in Brazil and Poland, and has premiered more than 60 new pieces of music. As an educator, he is a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto, and has given masterclasses in Europe and North America.
Congratulations to both artists, and thanks for their efforts to expand the reach of Western classical music in the modern world.
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