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Thierry Tidrow, BMus 09 awarded Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music

Published: 12 February 2015

The Composition Area of the Schulich School of Music is pleased to announce that one of its former students, Thierry Tidrow (BMus, Honours Composition and Major Music Theory, 2009) is the recipient of the 2014 Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music. During his bachelor's program, Mr. Tidrow studied composition with Professors Christoph Neidhöfer and Brian Cherney.

An interview with Thierry Tidrow about his winning work may be found on the website of the Canada Council for the Arts (see sidebar)

Awarded annually, the Jules Léger Prize is a Governor General's Award, and is the highest distinction a composer may receive for his/her work in Canada. Submissions for the award are reviewed anonymously.

Mr. Tidrow's win continues a recent trend which has seen the attribution of the Jules Léger Prize to former McGill composition students five times since 2009, as follows:

2014 Thierry Tidrow
2013 Nicole Lizée (MMus, Composition, 2000; supervisor: Denys Bouliane)
2012 Zosha Di Castri (BMus, Major Composition, 2007; teacher: Brian Cherney)
2010 Justin Christensen (MMus, Composition, 2003; supervisor: John Rea)
2009 Jimmie Leblanc (DMus, Composition 2014; supervisor: Denys Bouliane)

In the less-recent past, two other former students were recognized as follows:

1995 John Burke (BMus, 1974)
1983 John Hawkins (MMus, Composition, 1970)

Several current and former members of the Composition Area's faculty have also been recipients of the award (Denys Bouliane: 1987; Brian Cherney: 1985; Chris Paul Harman: 2001 and 2007; Bruce Mather: 1979 and 1993; John Rea: 1981 and 1992; and Donald Steven: 1991).

In summary, of the award's 39 editions, current and former McGill faculty and students account for 16 citations, almost half the total number, attesting to McGill's superlative ongoing contribution to the professional milieu of music composition in Canada today.

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