User:CanuckArtsFan/sandbox

In May 2011, Villeneuve's work was recognized at the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, Canada's highest honor in the performing arts, with the conferring of the National Arts Centre Award.

In 1988, Heppner won the Birgit Nilsson Prize. Heppner was awarded the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in 1995.[1] He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999, was promoted to Officer in 2002 and Companion in 2008. He performed at closing ceremonies of two Winter Olympic Games. In Torino in 2006, he sang the Canadian national anthem. Four years later, in Vancouver, he sang the Olympic Hymn. Both times, he mixed English and French. In June 2016, Heppner was made a laureate of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Classical Music.

Heppner announced his retirement from singing in April 2014.[2] Heppner felt unable to be a "part-time singer," feeling that "No matter how often you sing, if you're going to sing at a good level, a quality level, you've got to keep it up all the time. And I was finding that to be a little bit difficult. So that, plus the fact that I've been experiencing a little bit of unreliability in my voice — and that causes some anxieties — I decided it was time."[2]

Heppner continues to work in broadcasting (hosting both Saturday Afternoon at the Opera and its companion program, Backstage on the CBC ). In addition, Heppner hosts master classes and coaches singers for roles, and has appeared on voice competition juries.[2] The Ben Heppner Vocal Music Academy in Scarborough named after Ben Heppner himself opened in 2014. He has also announced his casting in a musical production of 'Titanic' at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto in May 2015.[3]