The Prix d'Europe is a prestigious Canadian study grant

Grant (money)

Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...

 that is funded by the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec of the Government of Quebec

Government of Quebec

The Government of Quebec refers to the provincial government of the province of Quebec. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....

. Established in 1911, the award has been distributed annually to a single individual through competition with the exception of 1960-1973 and 2009 when there was a potential for 2 prizes each year and 1971 when no prize was given. Winners of the grant are given a cash prize towards furthering their musical education abroad in Europe. Past winners of the prize include a large number of notable Canadian musicians.

History

J.-Arthur Paquet, a Quebecian businessman and organist who was treasurer of the Académie de musique du Québec, was responsible for spearheading the grant's creation in 1911. Paquet gained the support of the academy's board and its secretary, Joseph-Arthur Bernier

Joseph-Arthur Bernier

Joseph-Arthur Bernier was a Canadian organist, pianist, composer, and music educator. Born in Lévis, Quebec, he was the senior member of a prominent family of musicians from Quebec City...

, and a plan by the school for the project was brought to Quebec premier Sir Lomer Gouin

Lomer Gouin

Sir Jean Lomer Gouin, PC, KCMG was a Canadian politician.-Biography:He was born in Grondines, Quebec and served as 13th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec, as a Cabinet minister in the federal government of Canada, and as the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.On May 24, 1888, he married...

 for his personal approval. Gouin supported the project and through his influence the National Assembly of Quebec

National Assembly of Quebec

The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...

 passed a law promoting the development of musical art on 24 March 1911 which included funding the Prix d'Europe.

The Prix d'Europe initially awarded a cash prize of $3000 in 1911, at that time a very large sum of money. The sum was raised in 1959 ($5000), 1973 ($8000), and (1988). For more than the first 40 years of their history individual participants competed in their respective categories for a single prize. In 1960 two prizes were established: a prize for an a keyboardist or vocalist, and a prize for an orchestral instrumentalist or composer. Some years only one prize was given when the judges deemed there was not a suitable winner in a particular category. In 1974 the competition returned to its original state of offering just a single prize. In 2009 two prizes were given.

On two occasions the Prix d'Europe awarded special grants to individuals: in 1924 to violinist Norman Herschorn and in 1926 to pianist Alice Ste-Marie. The 1938 winner of the competition, Marcel Hébert, drowned before he could avail himself of the grant awarded to him. Accordingly his grant was distributed to two other participants in that year's competition: Noël Brunet and Georges Savaria

Georges Savaria

Georges Savaria is a Canadian pianist, composer, ondist, college administrator, and music educator. His compositional output consists of a 1951 piano concerto, several songs and works for solo piano, and music for theatre, television, and radio...

. No prize was given in 1971 as the judges felt that no applicant had demonstrated a sufficient enough level of skill to have earned the prize.

1911-1959

1911 Clotilde Coulombe

Clotilde Coulombe

Clotilde Coulombe was a Canadian pianist and Roman Catholic nun. She was the sister-in-law of musician Omer Létourneau.-Life and career:...

, piano

1912 Léo-Pol Morin

Léo-Pol Morin

Léo-Pol Morin was a Canadian pianist, music critic, composer, and music educator. He composed under the name James Callihou, with his most well known works being Suite canadienne and Three Eskimos for piano. He also composed works based on Canadian and Inuit folklore/folk music and harmonized a...

, piano

1913 Omer Létourneau

Omer Létourneau

Omer Létourneau was a Québécois pianist, organist, composer and orchestra conductor.A pupil of Joseph-Arthur Bernier, Létourneau won the Prix d'Europe in 1913. In 1917 he directed the production of L'Accordée de village in the Auditorium de Québec in Quebec City which included performances from...

, organ

1914 Jean Dansereau, piano

1915 Wilfrid Pelletier

Wilfrid Pelletier

Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier , CC was a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, serving as the orchestra's first artistic director and conductor from 1935-1941...

, piano

1916 Graziella Dumaine, voice

1917 Germaine Malépart, piano

1918 Jean Kaster, cello

1919 Lucille Dompierre

Lucille Dompierre

Lucille Dompierre was a Canadian pianist and arranger. She made only a few recordings, mainly consisting of works by Frédéric Chopin. She also arranged several Canadian songs and folk tunes for piano and solo voice.-Career:...

, piano

1920 Ruth Pryce, violin

1921 Auguste Descarries, piano

1922 Anna-Marie Messénie, piano

1923 Conrad Bernier, organ

1924 Gabriel Cusson

Gabriel Cusson

Gabriel Cusson was a Canadian composer and music educator. As a composer, his music was heavily influenced by the style of early 20th century French composers...

, cello

1925 Paul Doyon, piano

1926 Lionel Daunais

Lionel Daunais

Noël Ferdinand Lionel Daunais, was a French Canadian baritone and composer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Daunais studied singing with Céline Marier and harmony and composition with Oscar O'Brien. In 1923 he won first prize at the Montreal Musical Festival...

, voice

1927 Rita Savard, piano; Henri Mercure, composition

1928 Brahm Sand, cello

1929 Jean-Marie Beaudet

Jean-Marie Beaudet

Jean-Marie Beaudet was a Canadian conductor, organist, pianist, radio producer, and music educator. He had a long career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, serving variously as a music producer, programing director, conductor, and administrator...

, organ

1930 Gilberte Martin, piano

1931 Lucien Martin

Lucien Martin

Lucien Martin was a Canadian violinist, conductor, and composer. Only one of his compositions was published, the art song La Chanson des belles, which was performed by Jeanne Desjardins in its premiere on the CBC Radio program Sérénade pour cordes.-Life and career:Born in Montreal, Martin was the...

, violin

1932 Bernard Piché, organ

1933 Edwin Bélanger

Edwin Bélanger

Edwin Bélanger was a Canadian conductor, violinist, violist, arranger, and music educator. He had an association with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec for more than 50 years, including serving as the orchestra's principal conductor from 1942 to 1951.-Education:Born in Montmagny, Quebec,...

, violin

1934 Georges Lindsay, organ

1935 Georgette Tremblay, organ

1936 Noël Brunet, violin

1937 Georges Savaria

Georges Savaria

Georges Savaria is a Canadian pianist, composer, ondist, college administrator, and music educator. His compositional output consists of a 1951 piano concerto, several songs and works for solo piano, and music for theatre, television, and radio...

, piano

1938 Marcel Hébert, piano

1939 Paule-Aimée Bailly, piano

1940 Suzette Forgues, cello

1941 Marcelle Martin, organ

1942 Claude Lavoie, organ

1943 Berthe Dorval, piano

1944 Jacqueline Lavoy, piano

1945 Claude Létourneau, violin

1946 Jeanne Landry, piano

1947 Lise DesRosiers, piano

1948 Raymond Daveluy

Raymond Daveluy

Joseph Eugène Raymond-Marie Daveluy is a Canadian composer, organist, music educator, and arts administrator. An associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consists mainly of works for solo organ. He had an active international career as a recitalist and concert...

, organ

1949 Clermont Pépin

Clermont Pépin

Clermont Pépin, was a Canadian pianist, composer and teacher.He was born Jean Joseph Clermont Pépin in Saint-Georges, Quebec in 1926. Pépin studied with influential Canadian composers Claude Champagne and Arnold Walter , and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from 1941 to 1944 with...

, piano

1950 Josephte Dufresne, piano

1951 Anna-Marie Globenski, piano

1952 Janine Lachance, piano

1953 Kenneth Gilbert

Kenneth Gilbert

Kenneth Gilbert, OC is a Canadian harpsichordist, organist, musicologist and music educator.Gilbert was trained at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal where he was a pupil of Yvonne Hubert and Gabriel Cusson . He also studied the organ privately with Conrad Letendre in Montréal...

, organ

1954 Monik Grenier, piano

1955 Léon Bernier, piano

1956 Monique Munger, piano

1957 Jean Leduc, organ

1958 Lise Boucher, piano

1959 Rachel Martel, piano

1960-1973

1960 Jacqueline Martel, voice; Gisèle Daoust, piano

1961 Jacques Hétu

Jacques Hétu

Jacques Hétu, OC was a Canadian composer and music educator from Trois-Rivières, Quebec. He was nominated for a 1989 Juno Award in the Best Classical Composition category...

, composition; Pierre Ménard, violin

1962 Colette Boky

Colette Boky

Colette Boky is a French-Canadian operatic soprano, particularly associated with lyric roles in the French, Italian, and German repertories.- Life and career :...

, voice; John McKay

John McKay (pianist)

John McKay is an American pianist and music educator of Canadian birth. He has performed in concerts, recitals, and on radio and television broadcasts throughout North America and Europe...

, piano

1963 Cécile Lanneville, cello; André Prévost, composition

1964 Claude Ouellet, voice; Claude Savard, piano

1965 Alain Gagnon

Alain Gagnon

Alain Gagnon is a Canadian composer and music educator. He joined the music faculty of the Université Laval in 1967 where he has taught music theory, music analysis, and music composition for more than 40 years. A member of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate of the Canadian Music...

, composition

1966 Monique Gendron

Monique Gendron

Monique Gendron is a Canadian organist of international renown. She won first prize at the St Albans International Organ Festival in England and at the Grand Prix of Chartes in France. She has recorded sonatas by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel with oboist Bernard Jean and has...

, organ; Bruno Laplante, voice

1967 Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux

Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux

Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux was a Canadian composer and music educator who played an important role in the contemporary classical music scene of Canada and France from the late 1960s through the mid 1980s...

, composition; Jacques Larocque

Jacques Larocque

Jacques Larocque is a Canadian saxophonist, arranger, music educator, and university administrator. He has authored and published numerous transcriptions and arrangements for saxophone quartet; some of which have been recorded by ensembles like the Alliage Saxophone Quartet and the American...

, saxophone

1968 Roland Richard, voice; Lucie Madden, organ

1969 Louise LeComte, recorder

1970 John Whitelaw

John Whitelaw (harpsichord)

John Whitelaw is an American harpsichordist and long time faculty member of the Royal Conservatory in Ghent. After studies in Chicago, he was a student of Kenneth Gilbert in Montreal from 1967-1971. In 1970 he won the Prix d'Europe...

, harpsichord

1971 not awarded

1972 Marie Laferrière, voice; Karen Quinton

Karen Quinton

Karen Quinton is a Toronto-based Canadian pianist, organist, harpsichordist and music educator. She has performed as a soloist with many symphony orchestras in Canada, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. She has given recital tours throughout North...

, piano

1973 Raynald Arseneault

Raynald Arseneault

Raynald Arseneault was a Canadian composer and organist. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consists of more than 50 works. His style was particularly influenced by Ivan Wyschnegradsky and Giacinto Scelsi; both of whom he met with in Europe during the 1970s...

, composition; Marcel Saint-Jacques, flute

1974-present

1974 Jacinthe Couture, piano

1975 Denis Bédard

Denis Bédard

Denis Bédard is a Canadian composer of organ works and choral pieces...

, harpsichord

1976 Robert Langevin

Robert Langevin

Robert Langevin is a Canadian flautist. He has been principal flute of the New York Philharmonic since 2000 and is a former principal flutist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He was associate principal flute with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for 13 years and can be heard on more than 30...

, flute

1977 Michel Franck, piano

1978 Gilles Carpentier, clarinet

1979 Chantal Juillet

Chantal Juillet

Chantal Juillet, is a Canadian violinist.Born in Montreal, Juillet won all the major Canadian music competitions in her category by the age of 16 and was launched into international renown when she received First Prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York City. In 1979...

, violin

1980 Marie-Danielle Parent, voice

1981 Jacques Després, piano

1982 Johanne Perron, cello

1983 Sophie Rolland, cello

1984 Violaine Melançon, violin

1985 Éric Trudel, piano

1986 Jean Saulnier, piano

1987 Philippe Magnan, oboe

1988 Brigitte Rolland

Brigitte Rolland

Brigitte Rolland is a Canadian violinist. In 1988 she won the Prix d'Europe and was placed second in the London Philharmonic Orchestra Competition. She has appeared as a soloist in concerts with the CBC Quebec Chamber Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal, the Orchestre des jeunes du Québec, and the RCM...

, violin

1989 Claude Labelle, piano

1990 Marie-Claude Bilodeau, piano

1991 Stéphane Rancourt, oboe

1992 Guylaine Flamand, piano

1993 Pascale Giguère, violin

1994 Mark Freiheit, piano

1995 Stéphan Sylvestre, piano

1996 Frédéric Bednarz, violin

1997 Olivier Thouin

Olivier Thouin

Olivier Thouin is a Canadian violinist. He has performed as a soloist with several leading symphony orchestras in Canada, including the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Les Violons du Roy, and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra...

, violin

1998 Mariane Patenaude, piano

1999 Benoit Loiselle, cello

2000 Catherine Meunier, percussion

2001 Manelli Pirzadeh, piano

2002 Vincent Boucher, organ

2003 Wonny Song

Wonny Song

-See also:* Pianists* Canadian classical music* Young Concert Artists-External links:* * * * at Zankel Hall, from The New York Times...

, piano

2004 Anne-Julie Caron, percussion

2005 Jocelyne Roy, flute

2006 Jean-Sébastien Roy, violin

2007 Caroline Chéhadé, violin

2008 Valérie Milot

Valérie Milot

Valérie Milot is a Canadian harpist born in the province of Quebec. In 2008, she became the first harpist to win the prestigious Prix d’Europe . Ms Milot is renowned for her mature musical instinct as well as for the strength and the refinement of her interpretations...

, harp

2009 Marie-Eve Poupart, violin and Maxime McKinley, composition

2010 Tristan Longval-Gagné, piano

2011 Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano and Gabriel Dharmoo, composition