Prix d'Europe

Quebec’s oldest music competition, the Prix d'Europe is an annual study grant created by the Quebec government in 1911. Open to instrumentalists and singers in Québec, it is administered by the Académie de musique du Québec (AMQ) and aims “to encourage young musicians to hone their craft and pursue their musical studies outside of Québec.”

History

The Prix d'Europe was created through the initiative of J.-Arthur Paquet, businessman, organist, and the treasurer of the Académie de musique du Québec. With the approval of the academy's secretary, J.-Arthur Bernier, and the members of the board, the project was presented to the Québec premier, Sir Lomer Gouin, who supported it. A law to promote the development of musical art was passed by the Legislative Assembly (now the National Assembly) on 24 March 1911.

Initially, participants competed in their respective categories for one main prize. In 1960, two categories were created: keyboard instruments and voice, alternating with orchestral instruments and composition. In 1971, the prize was withheld because no candidate performed at a sufficiently high level. In 1974, the original formula of having only one prize winner was reinstated.

Prize Money

Funded by the ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec (now the ministère de la Culture et des Communications), the prize was initially worth $3,000. It was raised to $5,000 in 1959, to $8,000 in 1973, to $12,000 in 1988 and to $20,000 in 2005. As of 2014, it was worth $25,000. In addition to the prize money, the winner also receives the opportunity to perform as soloist with the Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de Montréal.

Other Awards

The AMQ offers ten other prizes, including the Prix Fernand-Lindsay, a biannual composition award worth $10,000. Introduced in 2009, it is funded by the Fondation Père Lindsay (see Fernand Lindsay).

Prix d'Europe Winners

1911 — Clotilde Coulombe, piano

1912 — Léo-Pol Morin, piano

1913 — Omer Létourneau, organ

1914 — Jean Dansereau, piano

1915 — Wilfrid Pelletier, piano

1916 — Graziella Dumaine, voice

1917 — Germaine Malépart, piano

1918 — Jean Kaster, cello

1919 — Lucille Dompierre, piano

1920 — Ruth Pryce, violin

1921 — Auguste Descarries, piano

1922 — Anna-Marie Messénie, piano

1923 — Conrad Bernier, organ

1924 — Gabriel Cusson, cello

1925 — Paul Doyon, piano

1926 — Lionel Daunais, voice

1927 — Rita Savard, piano; Henri Mercure, composition

1928 — Brahm Sand, cello

1929 — Jean-Marie Beaudet, organ

1930 — Gilberte Martin, piano

1931 — Lucien Martin, violin

1932 — Bernard Piché, organ

1933 — Edwin Bélanger, violin

1934 — Georges Lindsay, organ

1935 — Georgette Tremblay, organ

1936 — Noël Brunet, violin

1937 — Georges Savaria, piano

1938 — Marcel Hébert, piano (Hébert drowned shortly after winning the competition. The

grant was instead shared by the winners of the two previous years, Noël Brunet and

Georges Savaria.)

1939 — Paule-Aimée Bailly, piano

1940 — Suzette Forgues, cello

1941 — Marcelle Martin, organ

1942 — Claude Lavoie, organ

1943 — Berthe Dorval, piano

1944 — Jacqueline Lavoy, piano

1945 — Claude Létourneau, violin

1946 — Jeanne Landry, piano

1947 — Lise DesRosiers, piano

1948 — Raymond Daveluy, organ

1949 — Clermont Pépin, piano

1950 — Josephte Dufresne, piano

1951 — Anna-Marie Globenski, piano

1952 — Janine Lachance, piano

1953 — Kenneth Gilbert, organ

1954 — Monik Grenier, piano

1955 — Léon Bernier, piano

1956 — Monique Munger, piano

1957 — Jean Leduc, organ

1958 — Lise Boucher, piano

1959 — Rachel Martel, piano

1960 — Jacqueline Martel, voice; Gisèle Daoust, piano

1961 — Jacques Hétu, composition; Pierre Ménard, violin

1962 — Colette Boky, voice; John McKay, piano

1963 — Cécile Lanneville, cello; André Prévost, composition

1964 — Claude Ouellet, voice; Claude Savard, piano

1965 — Alain Gagnon, composition

1966 — Monique Gendron, organ; Bruno Laplante, voice

1967 — Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, composition; Jacques Larocque, saxophone

1968 — Roland Richard, voice; Lucie Madden, organ

1969 — Louise LeComte, recorder

1970 — John Whitelaw, harpsichord

1971 — not awarded

1972 — Marie Laferrière, voice; Karen Quinton, piano

1973 — Raynald Arseneault, composition; Marcel Saint-Jacques, flute

1974 — Jacinthe Couture, piano

1975 — Denis Bédard, harpsichord

1976 — Robert Langevin, flute

1977 — Michel Franck, piano

1978 — Gilles Carpentier, clarinet

1979 — Chantal Juillet, violin

1980 — Marie-Danielle Parent, voice

1981 — Jacques Després, piano

1982 — Johanne Perron, cello

1983 — Sophie Rolland, cello

1984 — Violaine Melançon, violin

1985 — Éric Trudel, piano

1986 — Jean Saulnier, piano

1987 — Philippe Magnan, oboe

1988 — Brigitte Rolland, violin

1989 — Claude Labelle, piano

1990 — Marie-Claude Bilodeau, piano

1991 — Stéphane Rancourt, oboe

1992 — Guylaine Flamand, piano

1993 — Pascale Giguère, violin

1994 — Mark Freiheit, piano

1995 — Stéphan Sylvestre, piano

1996 — Frédéric Bednarz, violin

1997 — Olivier Thouin, violin

1998 — Mariane Patenaude, piano

1999 — Benoit Loiselle, cello

2000 — Catherine Meunier, percussion

2001 — Maneli Pirzadeh, piano

2002 — Vincent Boucher, organ

2003 — Wonny Song, piano

2004 — Anne-Julie Caron, percussion

2005 — Jocelyne Roy, flute

2006 — Jean-Sébastien Roy, violin

2007 —Caroline Chéhadé, violin

2008 — Valérie Milot, harp

2009 — Marie-Ève Poupart, violin

2010 — Tristan Longval-Gagné, piano

2011 — Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano

2012 — Victor Fournelle-Blain, violin

2013 — Ariane Brisson, flute

2014 — Bénédicte Lauzière, violin

A version of this entry originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada.