SOCAN composer Alexina Louie has been awarded the $50,000 Molson Prize for 2019, to help her continue her contributions to Canada’s cultural heritage.
Funded from a $1 million endowment given to the Canada Council by the Molson Family Foundation, The Molson Prize, of $50,000 to each recipient, is awarded annually to two distinguished Canadians, one in the arts and the other in the social sciences or humanities. The Canada Council administers the awards in conjunction with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Alexina Louie is one of Canadaʼs most highly regarded contemporary composers. Her explorations of Asian art and philosophy, and her desire for self-expression, have contributed to the development of her unique musical voice. Her commissioned works have been performed and broadcast internationally, and range across all musical genres, including ballet and opera. She’s been commissioned by The National Ballet of Canada, The Canadian Opera Company, The Montreal Symphony, The Toronto Symphony, and The National Arts Centre Orchestra. Louie has twice won the JUNO Award for Best Classical Composition. She’s also received the National Arts Centre Composers Award, the Jules Léger Prize (chamber music), the Chalmers Award (musical composition), and the Lou Applebaum Award for Excellence in Film Music Composition. In 2002, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2003, she earned the Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music honour at the SOCAN Awards.
The winner of the other Molson Prize for 2019 is John Borrows, the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria Law School in British Columbia. Burrows is Anishinaabe/Ojibway, and a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario.
SOCAN congratulates Alexina Louie and John Borrows on these awards!