I was in Ottawa last weekend on a very sweet errand: I was honored to present Moh and Yulanda Faris with the 2010 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts, one of the Governor-General’s Performing Arts Awards that recognize "outstanding lifetime contributions to Canada's cultural life." My presentation was part of a Gala Concert honoring all the Performing Arts Award recipients.
The Faris family has supported numerous Vancouver arts organizations, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver Opera, Vancouver International Writers' Festival, Bard on the Beach, Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver Children's Festival and the Downtown Women's Eastside Centre.
Mohammed Faris, an engineer and real estate developer, helped establish the $11-million Scotiabank Dance Centre, which opened in 2001. Yulanda Faris currently chairs the Vancouver Opera Foundation and is a former president of the board of Vancouver Opera; she also serves on the Dean's advisory board of the UBC Faculty of Arts. The Farises established the Judith Forst Fund for Young Singers several years ago as a result of their passion for assisting and advancing young artists.
It would have been plenty more than good enough to have been there for the Farises, but the icing on the cake was being part of a larger, all-Canadian celebration. Other recipients were singers Bryan Adams and Buffy Sainte-Marie, Quebec theatre artist Francoise Faucher, choreographer Edouard Lock (of La La La Human Steps fame), actor and director Robin Phillips, and Toronto Symphony's Managing Director (1962-87) Walter Homburger.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted our Faust
Young Canadian phenom conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin was named winner of the 2010 National Arts Centre Award. He was unable to attend as he is on tour with the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He conducted Vancouver Opera’s Faust in 2006.
Nézet-Séguin told CBC News he thinks this kind of award focuses attention on classical music and shows it is not just for an elite. "We are not searching for those awards, but when they come, it is with a realization that we have an impact on the lives of Canadians, whether we are in Canada or not," he said.
I Get to Meet Buffy
I don’t consider myself a groupie of any kind, but I admit I was really excited to meet Buffy Sainte-Marie, shake her hand and tell her how much I’ve loved her art and her work over the years. She was very gracious – and looked like a million bucks!
Sainte-Marie emerged as a singer-songwriter and activist in the 1960s, with songs such as Until It's Time for You to Go, Universal Soldier and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. In 1981, she won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for the song Up Where We Belong, written for the film An Officer and a Gentleman. In 2009, she released Running for the Drum, which won a Juno and four Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.
Bryan Adams - who needs no introduction from me! - surprised everyone by appearing on stage and playing two or three of his best-known hits at the end of the evening, sending the tuxedo-clad audience over the top and out of their seats!
~ James W. Wright, General Director
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