The 2015 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award: And the Winners Are …

Clockwise from top left: Atom Egoyan, Sarah McLachlan, Walter Boudreau, Diana Leblanc, Michael Koerner, Jean-Marc Vallée, R.H. Thomson (Photo courtesy the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards)

The 2015 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award Winners revealed!

They’re no strangers to the spotlight, but this May five of the nation’s brightest artistic talents will receive the Governor General’s Performing Arts Lifetime Achievement Award. The highest honour that Canada bestows upon its stars of stage, screen and song, the 2015 GGPA’s span a wide spectrum of artistic disciplines.

The five cultural Canucks receiving the lifetime achievement honour include Oscar-nominated film and opera director Atom Egoyan, 54; famed Montreal-born conductor, composer and saxophonist Walter Boudreau, 67; Gemini Award-winning stage, screen and radio performer/director Diana Leblanc; Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan, 47; actor, playwright and director R.H. Thomson, 67.

As well, writer/director Jean-Marc Vallée, 52, who helmed the critically acclaimed Dallas Buyers Club and Wild, will receive the 2015 National Arts Centre Award, while the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Volunteerism in the Performing Arts goes to philanthropic arts patron Michael Koerner.

“I feel like, ‘But I’m not done yet,’” McLachlan quipped to the Canadian Press regarding the honour. “’Aren’t I supposed to get this when I’m 70?’”

The awards celebration takes place over two days – May 29-30 – at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall and National Arts Centre and includes the presentation of the awards by Canadian Governor General David Johnston and an honorary gala.