Leonard Cohen to be honoured at Glenn Gould prize galas

SOCAN member Leonard Cohen will receive the ninth biennial Glenn Gould Prize and announce the City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize winner during a special evening at Massey Hall on May 14, 2012. Cohen was chosen from a distinguished list of international candidates nominated by the general public, and will receive a cash prize of $50,000, and has chosen the protégé prizewinner, who will receive $15,000.

A stellar lineup of musical stars and honourary speakers will take to the stage to salute the lifetime achievements of the renowned singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. SOCAN members performing at the gala concert include Basia Bulat, Cowboy Junkies, Adam Cohen, Serena Ryder, Greg Keelor and Travis Good. American singer-songwriters John Prine, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and James McMurtry will also pay tribute, as will actors Gordon Pinsent and Colm Feore (who will host the event), as well as The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson. Prior to the concert, there will be an exclusive gala dinner at the newly renovated Arcadian Court in downtown Toronto to honour Cohen (who will attend the event) and benefit the Glenn Gould Foundation.

“I want to thank The Glenn Gould Foundation for their kindness," said Cohen in 2011 when the prize was first announced. "It is a great honour, sweetened by my love of the work of Glenn Gould, and our collective appreciation of his invigorating and enduring presence in the world of music and imagination.”

The mission of The Glenn Gould Foundation is to honour Gould’s spirit and legacy by celebrating brilliance, promoting creativity and transforming lives through the power of music and the arts. The Glenn Gould prize is presented to a living luminary who has made a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts and manifests the values of innovation, inspiration and transformation.

For more information, or to buy tickets for either the concert or the dinner, visit the Glenn Gould Foundation website.