Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music
Rita Ueda
Photo: Alistair Eagle
Current winner
Rita Ueda for her composition, “As the First Spring Blossoms Awaken Through the Snow” (2021)
Rita Ueda is a Canadian composer based in Vancouver, the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Notable recent works include let us not be the reason why someone out there is praying for peace (2020) and Birds Calling… From the Canada in You (2022), which has been described as “… fresh, thoroughly Canadian, and breathtakingly original” (Musical America Worldwide). She is the winner of the 2022 Azrieli Prize in Canadian Music and the 2014 Penderecki International Competition for Young Composers. Her works have been premiered by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest MÁV Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Prague Modern, and the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra. Rita Ueda holds degrees from Simon Fraser University and the California Institute of the Arts, and she is currently completing her PhD at Durham University (UK).
What is this prize?
The Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music encourages Canadian professional composers to create avant-garde chamber music and to foster its performance by Canadian ensembles.
Who created this prize?
The prize was established in 1978 by the Right Honourable Jules Léger, then Governor General of Canada, who always encouraged innovation and excellence.
For more information
Sarah Brown
Program Officer, Prizes
juleslegerprizes@canadacouncil.ca
1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext. 6004
Deadline
Annual
Prize amount
$7,500
By application
Updated guidelines will be posted 2 months prior to the deadline. You can submit an application to juleslegerprizes@canadacouncil.ca
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