That Eric Alper

The 27th annual SOCAN Montréal Awards Gala (Gala de la SOCAN) returns to Montréal’s iconic music venue, Métropolis, on September 12th, to celebrate and shine a spotlight on Québec’s songwriters, composers, and music publishers for their extraordinary contributions to music.

Among the artists and industry players honoured will be songwriter Stéphane Venne, the creator of the immortal “Le début d’un temps nouveau,” who will receive SOCAN’s prestigious CULTURAL IMPACT Award, celebrating the major cultural contribution of a musical work created by a SOCAN member.

The awards gala will feature live performances for an audience comprising a who’s who of Québec music industry players and artists.Ariane Moffatt will be honoured with the SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR award, and the international success of two young and extraordinary singer-songwriters, Cœur de Pirate and Grimes, each of whom will be honoured with an INTERNATIONAL AWARD. The SOCAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD will go to Richard Séguin, a veteran of the Québec music scene whose career spans more than 40 years, while 11 SOCAN CLASSIC awards, each representing at least 25,000 radio performances, will be presented to the songwriters who made them possible. Among them are several titles by rocker Éric Lapointe and the late-lamented Dédé Fortin and “Colocs.” As well as those classics, the writers, composers and publishers of the 10 most played francophone songs on the radio in 2015 will be honoured.

“SOCAN is intensely proud of our members’ creative vitality, from well-established music creators and publishers to emerging talent, to those rapidly ascending in their career,” said SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste. “Whether their success is domestic or international or both, we are confident that the current era of profound musical creative success will continue. SOCAN has taken numerous important steps ahead over the past year, and we will gladly celebrate ‘new beginnings’ during this gala that will once again fill our eyes, ears and hearts with joy.”

This annual gala, one of the Québec’s music industry’s most important events, is the celebration of all authors, composers and music publishers whose work is a source of emotion and weaves the very fabric of our cultural identity. Among the other special awards presented during the event – hosted by Stéphane Archambault and directed by Yann Perreau – the SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD will honour Alain Chartrand, the founder of the Coup de coeur francophone festival, the 21st edition of which will be held next November. An award in a new category will also be presented this year, namely the PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR award, and many more awards will salute the excellence of audio-visual composers, creators who play a vital role in our television and film landscape.

Archambault, founding member, composer and singer with Mes Aïeux and this year’s host of the SOCAN Gala, said, “It’s undoubtedly the coolest gala of the industry. It’s Christmas before Christmas for the music world. Even better: it’s one huge family gathering. And this year, I’m the host. What an honour! What a joy!”

Each of the special awards recipients will receive “The SOCAN” – the industry’s only major trophy that doubles as a musical instrument. This year, the trophy’s five SABIAN-made crotales mounted on the SOCAN trophy will be tuned to play the first five notes of Venne’s award-winning “Le début d’un temps nouveau.”

The Montréal Gala de la SOCAN celebrates SOCAN’s more than 25,000 Québec members and their success; over 80 prizes in 21 categories will be awarded during the event. The complete list of award winners will be released during the evening of Sept. 12, 2016.

The SOCAN Foundation today announced the 24 winners of the 2016 SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers and Young Audio Visual Composers.

This year’s competition attracted 224 entries, awarding a total of $51,000 to the prize winners. The jury awarded the grand prize to Canadian, New York-based Taylor Brook for his inspiring piece “Song for Solo Cello.”

“Congratulations to all of this year’s winners for composing music that made enough of an impression on the juries to be chosen as a winner,” said Charlie Andrews, Manager of the SOCAN Foundation. “There are a tremendous amount of talented young Canadian composers and we’re thrilled to be able to help and recognize some of them, so they can continue to create the beautiful music that touches us all.”

The Annual SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers recognize Canadian composers 30 years of age and under for specific musical works in five categories of concert music. The submissions were judged anonymously by a jury of three prominent composers: Dr. Robert Lemay (Sudbury, ON), Jocelyn Morlock (Vancouver, British Columbia), and Afarin Mansouri Tehrani (Toronto, ON).

“Overall the composers demonstrated a great deal of skill, wide-ranging imagination, and that there was a remarkable (and admirable) diversity of styles and influences in their music,” said Morlock.

The Young Audio Visual competition is designed to recognize Canadian composers who are 30 years of age and under, for original musical themes or scores created exclusively for audio-visual support (TV, film, Internet, etc.). The jury for this category was comprised of industry professionals Darren Fung (Los Angeles, California), Judith Gruber-Stitzer (Montreal, QC), and Stephanie Copland (Toronto, ON).

“The level of musicianship and professionalism displayed in this year’s AV composer candidates was impressive.  It gives me great hope that that craft of screen composing is alive and well,” said Fung.

Young Composer Award Recipients:

The Sir Ernest MacMillan Awards (for compositions for no fewer than 13 performers up to full symphony orchestra, which may include vocal participation and may be scored to include electroacoustics)

1^st – Hoi Chak Roydon Tse (Toronto, ON)
2^nd – Matthew Ricketts (New York, USA)
3^rd – Joseph Glaser (Montréal, QC)

The Serge Garant Awards (for compositions for a minimum of three performers to a maximum of 12 performers, with or without voice and/or electroacoustics).

1^st – Taylor Brook (New York, USA)
2^nd – David Storen (North Vancouver, BC)
3^rd – Carmen Vanderveken (Nijmegen, Netherlands)

The Pierre Mercure Awards (for solo or duet compositions, with or without voices and/or electroacoustics)

1^st – Taylor Brook (New York, USA)
2^nd – Gabriel Dufour-Laperriere (Montréal, QC)
3^rd – Hoi Chak Roydon Tse (Toronto, ON)

The Hugh Le Caine Awards (for live or recorded electroacoustics, where the intended performance is, at least in part, through loudspeakers. Works in this category may be multi-media and may include acoustic instrument(s) or voice(s), live or recorded. The principal element in the work must be electroacoustic)

1^st – Guillaume Campion (Montréal, QC)
2^nd – Maxime Fillion, (Montréal, QC)
3^rd – Matthew Horrigan (Vancouver, BC)

The Godfrey Ridout Awards (for works of any number of voices with or without instrumentation and/or electroacoustics)

1^st – Katerina Gimon (Vancouver, BC)
2^nd – Matthew Horrigan (Vancouver, BC)
3^rd – Dylann Miller (Aurora, ON)

The John Weinzweig Grand Prize (for best overall work submitted; applicants do not apply for this award)

Taylor Brook (New York, USA).

Young Audio Visual Composer Award Recipients:

Best Original Score – Non-Fiction

1^st – Antoine Binette Mercier (Montréal, QC)
2^nd – William Kraushaar (Montréal QC)
3^rd – Olivier Bibeau (Quebec, QC)

Best Original Score – Fiction

1^st – Arie Verheul van de Ven (Toronto, ON)
2^nd – Isaias Garcia (Toronto, ON)
3^rd (tie) – Vincent L. Pratte (Los Angeles, USA)
3^rd (tie) – Shaun Chasin (Toronto, ON)

Best Original Theme (opening or closing)

1^st – Emily Klassen (Toronto, ON)
2^nd – Spencer Creaghan (London, ON)
3^rd – Vincent L. Pratte (Los Angeles, USA)

Best Original Score – Animated

1^st – Lora Bidner (Toronto, ON)
2^nd – Benjamin Goldman (Montréal, QC)
3^rd – Toby Sherriff (Los Angeles, USA)