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LifeAlexander Brott studied violin with Eugene Schneider and Alfred De Sève, and at age 11 performed as soloist in vaudeville.

Colin (Graham) Tilney. Harpsichordist, fortepianist, performer of Baroque keyboard music, teacher, b London 31 Oct 1933; BA modern languages and music (King's College, Cambridge) 1958, B MUS (Cambridge) 1959.

Arnold Maria Walter, OC, musicologist, educator, administrator (born 30 August 1902 in Hannsdorf (Hanušovice), Moravia; died 6 October 1973 in Toronto, ON).

Augustus Stephen Vogt, choral conductor, educator, administrator, organist, pianist (born 14 August 1861 in Washington, Canada West; died 17 September 1926 in Toronto, ON).

Lillian Kathleen Thomas, née Beynon, journalist, author, suffragist (born 4 September 1874, King Township, ON; died 2 September 1961, Winnipeg, MB).

Serena Ryder, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, mental health advocate (born 8 December 1982 in Millbrook, ON). Folk-rock singer-songwriter Serena Ryder is known for her raspy, soulful vocals and raw, emotional lyrics. She first gained attention with her gold-certified albums If Your Memory Serves You Well (2006) and Is It O.K. (2008). She won the Juno Award for New Artist of the Year in 2008 and achieved international stardom with her fifth album, Harmony (2012), and her smash hit “Stompa,” which went triple platinum in Canada. She has won a Canadian Screen Award, a MuchMusic Video Award, a SOCAN Award and seven Juno Awards, including Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year in 2014. She received the Allan Slaight Music Impact Honour from Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2021.

Samuel (Joseph) Dolin. Composer, teacher, administrator, b Montreal 22 Aug 1917, d Midland, Ont, 13 Jan 2002; B MUS (Toronto) 1942, D MUS (Toronto) 1958. He began his musical studies in Montreal under Tania and Vladmir Elgart, Stanley Gardner and Vladimir Emenitov (piano and theory).

Emma Donoghue, novelist, literary historian, teacher, playwright, radio and film scriptwriter (born 24 October 1969 in Dublin, Ireland). Winner of the 2010 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, Emma Donoghue has introduced a fresh, if often jarring, voice in modern fiction produced by women. One of Canada’s most important contemporary literary figures, she is perhaps best known for the novel Room (2010), which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and for the screenplay of its 2015 film adaptation, which earned Donoghue a Canadian Screen Award and an Independent Spirit Award, as well as BAFTA and Academy Award nominations.

George Alexander Trebek, OC, television host, human rights spokesperson, journalist (born 22 July 1940 in Sudbury, ON; died 8 November 2020 in Los Angeles, California). Alex Trebek is a pop culture icon, best known as the long-time host of the TV game show Jeopardy! He began his broadcasting career at the CBC, where he hosted the music variety program Music Hop (1963–64) and the popular teen quiz show Reach for the Top (1966–73). He won five Daytime Emmy Awards from 30 nominations for Outstanding Game Show Host, and he holds the Guinness World Record for the most game shows hosted by the same presenter. An Officer of the Order of Canada, he received a Peabody Award and several lifetime achievement and hall of fame honours, including stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Jean-Marie Lapointe, OC, OQ, singer, songwriter, comedian, actor, politician (born 6 December 1935 in Price, QC, died 18 November 2022 in Montreal, QC). As a cabaret performer for more than three decades, Jean Lapointe embodied the traditional American-style show in French with a balance of tragicomic songs, good-natured humour, impersonations and comedy sketches. From 1955 to 1974, he performed with Jérôme Lemay as the duo Les Jérolas. A prolific singer-songwriter, Lapointe recorded hundreds of songs, including the popular hits “Pleurire,” “Chante-la ta chanson,” “Rire aux larmes” and “Mon oncle Edmond.” Also a Genie- and Jutra Award-winning actor, he appeared in the classic films Les Ordres (1974) and J.A. Martin, photographe (1977), and played Maurice Duplessis in a popular TV mini-series. He served as a Liberal Senator from 2001 until 2010, and has been named to the Order of Canada and the Ordre National du Quebec.

Chamber music performance. Early evidence of the cultivation of classical chamber music in Canada, mainly by amateur performers, both as an edifying leisure activity and in public concerts, dates from the period 1790-1820.

Paul Demers, singer, songwriter, composer and teacher (born 9 March 1956 in Gatineau, Québec; died 29 October 2016 in Orléans, Ontario). Recipient of two SOCAN awards, Demers was one of the founding members of the Association des professionnels de la chanson et de la musique (APCM) and wrote the song “Notre place” (Our Place), the official anthem of the Franco-Ontarian community. His body of work and artistic contribution shaped the next generation of francophone artists in the music industry.

Frédéric Back, OC, CQ, animator, illustrator, muralist, teacher, activist (born 8 April 1924 in Sarrebrück, France; died 24 December 2013 in Montréal, QC). Frédéric Back was one of Canada’s most celebrated animators and a pioneering environmental activist.

Joy Nozomi Kogawa (née Nakayama), CM, OBC, poet, novelist, activist (born 6 June 1935 in Vancouver, BC). Joy Kogawa is one of the most influential Canadian authors of Japanese descent. She is celebrated both for her moving, fictionalized accounts of the internment of Japanese Canadians and her work in the Redress Movement to obtain compensation and reparation for her community. She is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, as well as Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun.

Simu Liu, actor, writer, director, producer, stuntman, model (born 19 April 1989 in Harbin, China). Simu Liu is best known for his role as Shang-Chi, Marvel’s first Asian superhero, and for his role as Jung Kim on the hit CBC sitcom Kim’s Convenience. A former stuntman and model who also produces his own projects, the Chinese Canadian Liu has also become an advocate for equal race representation in the entertainment industry. He was named one of the top 500 entertainment business leaders of 2021 by Variety and one of the 100 most influential people of 2022 by Time magazine.

Michael Conway Baker. Composer, teacher, b West Palm Beach, Fla, 13 Mar 1937, naturalized Canadian 1970; Associate (LCM) 1961, B MUS (British Columbia) 1966, MA (Western Washington State) 1972.

Perhaps the first musically important immigrant to Canada from what later was to be known as Czechoslovakia was Wilhelm Labitzky (violinist, b Becov 1829, d Toronto 1871; son of Joseph Labitzky, 'the waltz king of Bohemia').

Robert Holmes Thomson, CM, actor, director, playwright (born 24 September 1947 in Richmond Hill, ON). R.H. Thomson is one of Canada’s foremost stage actors. He is also known for his extensive work in television and film, including as Matthew Cuthbert in Anne with an E (2017–19), the CBC/Netflix adaptation of Anne of Green Gables. He has won a Genie Award, two Gemini Awards, a Dora Awardand a Canadian Screen Award, as well as the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awardfor Lifetime Artistic Achievement. Thomson is a passionate advocate for arts and culture in Canada. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2010.