Composer and SOCAN member Yves Daoust was presented with the $25,000 Serge Garant Award of the Émile Nelligan Foundation at a ceremony held Dec. 2, 2009, in Montreal’s Historic Chapel of the Good Shepherd.

The 2009 award jury included five composers who are also SOCAN members: Denis Gougeon, Marc Hyland, Estelle Lemire, Jean Lesage, and the 2006 Serge Garant Award winner, John Rea.

Rea, as jury chair, stated in his tribute to Daoust that “We are not just acknowledging this particular composer tonight, but the entire Quebec electroacoustic music scene, a vibrant hub of creative activity. What first comes to mind when I think of Yves Daoust is his quest for bringing back the sheer listening pleasure of music by helping us rediscover our own sonic environment through his compositions. I am also reminded of the authenticity and sophistication of his works, the sustained quality of his output and the substance of his pieces. For lack of better words, Daoust’s work could be described as the epitome of authenticity, poetry, refinement and humanity.”

The Serge Garant Award is presented every third year to celebrate an artist’s lifetime achievements at any stage of his or her career. For more information, please visit the Émile Nelligan Foundation website.