Awards of Excellence

Awards of Excellence recognize individuals and organizations throughout the Province of BC that have made an extraordinary contribution to Canadian music.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement Award is an annual award which seeks to recognize extraordinary contributions to Canadian music by an individual over a lifetime of service and/or through a body of work.

Outstanding Composition Award

Outstanding Composition Awards are presented to winners of affiliated composition competitions sponsored by recognized music institutions in the province of BC.

Pentland Prize

The Pentland Prize is a $1,000 scholarship awarded annually to a BC graduate student in Composition at the School of Music at the University of Victoria, the School of Music at the University of British Columbia, or SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. The Prize rotates between those three schools each year, with the graduate student to be presented the award selected by the Composition faculty of that school. The Pentland Prize is generously sponsored by Dr. Geoffrey Newman.

Outstanding Performance Award

Outstanding Performance Awards are presented for the best performance of a Canadian work at respected competitions sponsored by established music organizations within the province of BC, such as the BC Registered Music Teachers Association annual conference, Kathaumixw International Choral Festival, or Kiwanis Festivals.

Southam Prize

The Southam Prize, created on International Women’s Day (March 8, 2019) in honour of Canadian Composer Ann Southam, is a $500 scholarship that will be awarded each year to a woman composer enrolled in a graduate-level composition program at one of the three BC universities offering graduate studies in composition: University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, and Simon Fraser University. All students meeting the award parameters are eligible, including Two-Spirit, transfeminine, and cisgender women.