Composer, pianist and SOCAN member David Virelles has won the 2008 Louis Applebaum Composers Award, a $10,000 prize that recognizes excellence in a body of work by an emerging artist in the field of jazz composition.

Born and raised in Santiago de Cuba, Virelles has been based in Toronto since 2001, and studied at the University of Toronto and at Humber College, where he won the first Oscar Peterson Award. His compositions have been showcased by Jane Bunnett and Spirits of Havana, the Neil Swainson Quartet, Francisco Mela, the Roberto Occhipinti Quartet and the Roman Filiu Quartet.

The Louis Applebaum Composers Fund was established at the Ontario Arts Foundation in 1998 by Louis Applebaum to recognize excellence in music composition of any genre. Applebaum (1918-2000) devoted his life to the cultural awakening of Canada. A member of the boards of directors of SOCAN and the SOCAN Foundation, he was an instrumental figure in the early development of the National Film Board, the Stratford Festival and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

For more details, visit the Ontario Arts Foundation website.