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Governor General's Performing Arts Awards
The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards (GGPAA) are Canada’s foremost distinction for excellence in the performing arts. The awards recognize a stellar array of artists and arts volunteers for their outstanding lifetime contribution to Canada’s cultural life.The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards were Created in 1992 under the patronage of the Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn (1934-2002), then Governor General of Canada. Today, we are honoured to have His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston as our patron.

Each year, Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards are presented for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in the categories of theatre, dance, classical music, popular music, film, and broadcasting. These awards recognize artists who have made an indelible contribution to Canada’s cultural life. Recipients of these awards are nominated by the general public.

Two complementary awards are also conferred each year. The Ramon John Hnatyshyn (RJH) Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts, which recognizes outstanding contribution by an individual or group in voluntary service to the performing arts in Canada. This Award is also nominated by the general public. The National Arts Centre Award, which recognizes the work of an extraordinary nature by an individual artist or company in the past performance year. Recipients are selected by the NAC Board of Trustees from a list of candidates proposed by a nominating committee of NAC artistic programmers.

The award recipients receive the following:
 * Lifetime Artistic Achievement: A $25,000 cash prize contributed by the Canada Council for the Arts and a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint.
 * RJH Award for Voluntarism in the Arts: A commemorative medallion from the Mint and a specially commissioned work by a Canadian artist.
 * NAC Award: A $25,000 cash prize from the NAC, a commemorative medallion from the Mint and a specially commissioned work by a Canadian artist.

The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards were created in 1992 under the patronage of the late Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn (1934–2002), 24th Governor General of Canada, and his wife Gerda.

The idea for the GGPAA goes back to the late 1980s and a discussion between Peter Herrndorf (now President and CEO of the National Arts Centre) and entertainment industry executive Brian Robertson, both of whom were involved at the time with the Toronto Arts Awards Foundation.

When they approached Governor General Hnatyshyn with their proposal for a national performing arts awards program, they received his enthusiastic support. “He became a tremendous fan of the artists receiving the awards each year, the perfect cheerleader in the early years of the program,” recalls Mr. Herrndorf. The GGPAA were officially launched in 1992, with seed money from the federal government in conjunction with the 125th anniversary of Canada’s confederation. The founding members were CBC/Radio-Canada, the National Arts Centre, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canadian Conference of the Arts, with the generous support of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The first GGPAA recipients were announced on September 22, 1992, and the inaugural Gala was held at the National Arts Centre on Saturday, November 7, 1992. In 1992, the first recipients of the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award were William Hutt, Gweneth Lloyd, Dominique Michel, Mercedes Palomino, Oscar Peterson and Léopold Simoneau. Norman Jewison received the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts and Gilles Maheu and CARBONE 14 received the National Arts Centre Award.

History of the Awards
In 2007 the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) joined the Awards Foundation as a creative partner, and agreed to produce a short film about each Award recipient (beginning with the 2008 laureates). After premiering at the GGPAA Gala, these original and engaging films are made available to all Canadians on the Web and in a variety of digital formats.

“The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards are the highest tribute we can offer Canadian artists,” said Judith LaRocque, former Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage and former Secretary to the Governor General, in an interview on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Awards.

“Atlantic Canada is introduced to the talent of Western Canada, and French-speaking and English-speaking artists are introduced to each other and to new audiences. The Awards illustrate the magic of who we are as a country.”

In the two decades since their inception, the GGPAA have grown in stature and developed into preeminent national awards.

They celebrate the talent of our artists and the richness of our culture, underline Canada’s important role as an Arts Nation, and foster a sense of national unity and pride.

About the Foundation
The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards are administered by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation, an Ottawa-based, not-for-profit charitable organization governed by a Board of Directors and administered by a small professional staff. The GGPAAF enjoys a dynamic partnership with the National Arts Centre (NAC) which has responsibility for the production of the annual gala performance and the event's fundraising activities.

The Foundation was created and incorporated in 1992 under the patronage of the late Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn (1934-2002).

Its mandate is:


 * To honour and celebrate the lifetime artistic achievement of Canada’s outstanding performing artists


 * To foster cross-cultural awareness of Anglophone artists in French Canada and of Francophone artists in English Canada


 * To raise profile among Canadians of the achievements and contributions of Canadian performing artists at home and abroad


 * To inspire future performing artists

The Foundation is responsible for coordinating the nomination and selection processes; organizing all special events related to the awards presentation including ceremonies in the House of Commons, at Rideau Hall and the National Arts Centre; and cultivating partnerships to enhance the profile of the awards.