The Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, announced a few days ago (on June 30) 50 new appointments to the Order of Canada. The Canadian pianist and composer Alain Lefèvre is appointed Officer to the Order of Canada  “for his contributions to the arts as a pianist and champion of Canadian music”.

Recently, he won the JUNO Award 2010 for Best Classical Album of the Year, in the category “Large ensemble or soloist with large ensemble”, for his recording with the London Mozart Players, featuring the CD premiere of André Mathieu’s Concertino No. 2. Congrats Alain!

Last night,  the 40th annual Juno ceremony  was held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto (broadcast on CTV). In fact, a very small number of prizes was awarded live yesterday, the rest having been given out at a gala dinner previously.

In the “Classical Album of the Year: solo or chamber ensemble,” the Gryphon Trio won the prestigious statuette for its album of Beethoven Piano Trios, the last in its series devoted to the complete piano trios of the composer. This was their 13th album on the Analekta label. You can listen to it here…

Let’s also mention that the classical composition of the year is R. Murray Schafer’s Wild Bird. Written in 1997 for Jacques Israelievitch’s 50th birthday, this appealing duet celebrates the remarkable versatility of the violinist, acclaimed for his gifts as a chamber musician, soloist and concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1988 to 2008. The title refers to Israelievitch’s hair, which Schafer recalls he had dyed a “rather vivid orange” at the time. You can listen to a version for violin and harp of the work on Valérie Milot’s latest album, V, launched just last week. You can discover it here…

Congratulations as well to Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà and Ensemble Caprice, also nominated for a Juno.

The Québécois classical milieu got together yesterday, Salle Claude-Champagne, to celebrate the excellence and vitality of our musical scene. Without much surprise, Gilles Tremblay’s opera L’eau qui danse, la pomme qui chante et l’oiseau qui dit la vérité was the clear winner of this gala, as it was named “premiere of the year” and “musical event of the year.” (Let’s remember here that close to 100 artists, all Canadian, embarked on this crazy but fabulous adventure.) Tremblay received the title of “composer of the year” as well. The jury members also chose to salute Ensemble Caprice, not once but twice; first for its remarkable performance of Bach’s B minor Mass (category “Concert of the year – medieval, Renaissance and baroque repertoire”) and then as “performer of the year.” It was the first time in the 14 editions of the gala that an ensemble was rewarded in this category.

Les coups de cœur d’Alain Lefèvre, a program presented at the Lanaudière festival last July, won the prize as “concert of the year – regions,” while pianist Serhiy Salov‘s album, The Sacred Spring of Slavs, got the “Recording of the year – modern and contemporay repertoire” statuette.

Two other Analekta albums were nominated, in the “Recording of the year – medieval, Renaissance and baroque repertoire” category: Francesca Caccini: O Viva Rosa (Shannon Mercer, Luc Beauséjour, Amanda Keemaat, Sylvain Bergeron) and Telemann and the baroque Gypsies by Ensemble Caprice.

Quebec City’s effervescent musical scene was highlighted, as the “specialised presenter of the year” was given to the Club musical de Québec, which celebrates its 120th season this year, and the Homage Prize awarded to Élise Paré-Tousignant, teacher and visionnaire, an essential part of the musical scene, including at Domaine Forget and Palais Montcalm.

The compleat list of winners is accessible here. Congratulations to the winners and the nominees!

After receiving a Felix two years in a row in the “Website of the Year” category, www.Analekta.com was a finalist in the 2010 Boomerang Contest in  the “E-Commerce Category”.

This new recognition, this time from the industry of marketing, advertising and medias, highlights Analekta’s commitment to position itself as a player to be reckoned with in the world of classical music online… and gives a boost of energy to those who believe classical music and new technologies can go hand in hand.

With its user experience about to be shortly reexamined in partnership with Adviso, a company specializing in ergonomics, and Motion in Design, Analekta’s Internet agency, you’re just beginning to savour your experience with Analekta.com.

Analekta received 5 Félix at the ADISQ Galas, held yesterday in Montreal, including the very prestigious statuette of “Producer of the Year,” which recognizes the efforts of the label to promote our local artists. Furthermore, for a second consecutive year, www.analekta.com, now entirely transactional, the meeting ground for classical music lovers, has been named “Website of the year.”

A natural follow-up to the one highlighting music of Philip Glass, winner of a Félix in 2009, Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà’s saluted album Arvo Pärt : Portrait was recognized in the category “Classical Album of the Year: Orchestra and Large Ensemble.”

In the category “Album of the Year: Soloist and Small Ensemble”, Canadian pianist André Laplante, hailed for his virtuosity and musicianship, won the trophy for his recording of the first of Liszt’s Années de pélerinage (Switzerland).

Jardins d’images, pianist Alain Lefèvre’s fourth album of compositions, has also been recognized in the category “Album of the Year – Instrumental”. Lefèvre (who also played in the opening segment of the Gala) was also nominated in the “Classical Album of the Year: Orchestra and Large Ensemble” category, with his brother Alain Lefèvre and the London Mozart Players.

Congratulations to all winners and to other Analekta nominees: Concert parisien with Luc Beauséjour, Hélène Plouffe, Grégoire Geay and Juan Manuel Quintana, harpist Valérie Milot, the Ensemble Caprice and the OSM.