Gr.Prix Culture

Reviewed by Ilania Abileah

17th Grand Prix de la Culture des Laurentides

Wednesday, 7th June 2006 at La petite église, Saint-Eustache.

Click on images to enlarge or underlined text to navigate. Cliquer sur les images pour élargir ou le texte souligné pour naviguer.

Jennifer Cooke of Ici par les arts accepts Grand Prize ($1000) Organisation Category. This was preceded by a funny video showing the new ICI par les arts quarters.	Mr. Beaulieu acceptance speech. Hélène Tremblay, president of Conseil de la Culture des Laurentides stands to his right. MRC d'Argenteuil and MRC Pays-d'en-haut both received honourable mention for their Cultural Policy, Mr. Beaulieu, Mayor of St. André d'Argenteuil accepted on behalf of MRC Argenteuil and Mr. André Genest, Mayor of Wentworth North accepted on behalf of the MRC Pays-d'en-haut.	Michel Brousseau received a prize of $5000 for artistic creation awarded by Mme Béatrice G. Pepper, Public Relations Manager of CALQ. Hélène Tremblay, Michel Brousseau, Béatrice G. Pepper, Raymond Tessier, St. Eustache city councillor.
The choir of the École à vocation musicale Arthur-Vaillancourt, lead by their teacher Claire Lalande.	The choir sang Gilles Vigneault's songs.	Gilles Vigneault joined the choir on stage.
The parents, who arrived late filled up the rear and got to work with their cameras. The audience was appreciative.	Daniel Lavigne, Mayor of St. Placide gave a charming introduction to Gilles Vigneault who is a "Placidien." Gilles Vigneault was really humble. He thanked Daniel Lavigne for the introduction saying "He will be elected again". My friend, the sculptor Michel Gautier said that the more famous they are the humbler they become. Gilles Vigneault received a standing ovation.	Trio À Cordes, the Breton family were once again the musicians gave us their gentle improvised Jazz. Catering, provided by La Gourmandine, was very good.

The Laurentians annual Cultural Awards were given at an exciting and festive event on June 7^th, at La Petite Église, in the beautiful old quarter of St. Eustache.

The team of the Laurentian Cultural Council (CCL) has put together a good program. Everything ran smoothly, the atmosphere was relaxed and joyous. The audience was seated comfortably around tables. There was a nice buffet of light refreshments, and pleasant improvised Jazz music by the Breton family Trio À Cordes.

After a humorous video that travelled through the new building of ICI par les arts, Jennifer Cooke accepted the $1000 prize awarded to the organization, for promoting creativity and the arts among youth and their work Laurentian schools.

Honourable mentions were given to both MRC Argenteuil, represented by Daniel Beaulieu, Mayor of St. André d’Argenteuil, and MRC Pay-d’en-haut, represented by André Genest, Mayor of Wentworth North, for their cultural policies.

The artistic creation winner was chosen from an impressive list of accomplished nominees in the fields of music, theatre, literature and photography.

The winner was Michel Brousseau, the orchestra conductor and choirmaster who has been promoting music education and classical music concerts in the region, and encouraging young talent through his work with the Laurentian musical camp and the Ste. Therese Singers. Michel Brousseau studied at the Quebec Music Conservatory in Montreal, in Philadelphia and in New York. He is the recipient of various honours and awards, including first place at the 2005 orchestra conductors’ competition in Italy. The $5000 prize was awarded by Béatrice Pepper of Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.

The evening’s highlight was the final special prize “Les grands soleil”, recognizing the lifetime achievements of Gilles Vigneault, the Quebec poet-singer and ambassador of Quebec culture, who lives in St. Placide. A children’s choir delighted the audience with Gilles Vigneault songs, while their parents were clicking their cameras. Gilles Vigneault was introduced by Daniel Lavigne, mayor of St. Placide, who said he is proud to have Gilles Vigneault among his residents. Gilles Vigneault humbly accepted the honour to a standing ovation.

Here is a message I sent to Carole Maillé, Manager of Conseil de la Culture des Laurentides:

Juste un petit mot pour vous féliciter pour la belle soirée que le CCL a organisé.

Parfait !

Je ne sais pas comment vous pouvez améliorer pour les années suivantes.

La soirée s’est bien déroulé, des moments très touchants, quelques instantes étaient vraiment drôles, la music de la famille breton était très plaisante, l’écran avec les photos et description très propice, le traiteur a servi de la bon bouffe....

Colours and dimensions artwork may be slightly different from the original.