Local Awards for 2025

Contemporary Showcase Edmonton’s Recognition Awards are given to recognize students who have put extra effort and creative musicianship into their performances.

The Bella Music Awards for strings have kindly been donated by Jim Doucet, owner of Bella Music in Edmonton.

The National Association of Teachers of Singing from North Central Alberta has kindly donated a scholarship for our Voice classes.

The Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Provincial Association has kindly donated scholarships to promote students exploring music by Alberta Composers, having performed these pieces in the Joyce Oliver Alberta Composer and Featured Composers Classes. This organization also presents an award to a promising young Alberta composer from our Creative Music Classes. 

The Edmonton Branch of the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association has kindly donated a scholarship to promote areas other than piano in our festival.  This year it will be given to a student from the Guitar Classes.

The Gladys Odegard Award for Beginner Piano has kindly been donated by Gladys Odegard to encourage a first-time student who shows aptitude and interest in the performance of music with contemporary idioms.

The Duo Majoya Keyboard Ensemble Award has been kindly donated by Dr. Marnie Giesbrecht and Dr. Joachim Segger from the keyboard duet team called Duo Majoya.

The Michèle Gervais Awards have been kindly donated by Sophia Barry for our Junior Piano program. They are given in honour of her mother who fostered her love of contemporary music and the Contemporary Showcase Festival.

The Geoff Dimmer Memorial Award in Winds is kindly donated by William Dimmer. Geoff Dimmer was a very talented young composer who played piano and trombone. Music was the shining light of his life. Sadly, he was taken at the age of 17.

Violet Archer Awards in Junior Piano.  Canadian composer, Violet Archer, spent the last years of her life composing works for students to experience the joys of contemporary music. These awards recognize her faithful contribution and support of Contemporary Showcase, The Canadian League of Composers and The Canadian Music Centre.  Violet Archer, an Edmontonian, was a founding member of each of these Associations. 

Robert Rosen Young Composers Award. Highly-regarded Canadian composer, Robert Rosen (1956 – 2018), was a former student of Violet Archer and former clinician for the Young Composers Program. His prairie heritage and mountain roots gave both grandness and nuance to his compositions. We are honoured to be presenting the first annual memorial award in his name to a senior student in the Young Composers Program.

All awards will be given at the discretion of the clinicians.

2025 Awards

Creative Music 
Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ARMTA), Provincial & CSE Recognition Award – Mark Rico-Lam
Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ARMTA), Provincial – Yuuki Luong

Strings
Bella Music Award – Junior/Int – Ava Huber
Bella Music Award – Junior/Int – Austin Wong-Petrovic

Winds
Geoff Dimmer Memorial Award & CSE Recognition Award – Int/Senior – Andy Wang
Anonymous donor – Junior – Sierra Maltais

Voice
National Association of Teachers of Singing (North Central Alberta) Award & Anonymous donor – Everly Burnett

Guitar
Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ARMTA), Edmonton Branch & Anonymous donor – Junior/Int – Julia Makarewicz
Anonymous donor – Junior/Int – Dylan Wong-Petrovic

Joyce Oliver, Alberta Composer Awards
Alberta Registered Music Teachers’ Association (ARMTA), Provincial – Int/Sr/Advanced – Mark Rico-Lam

Featured Composer Classes
CSE Recognition Award – Sr/Advanced- Mark Rico-Lam
CSE Recognition Award – Junior/Int – Luke Wyatt

Duo Majoya Keyboard Ensemble Award – Ethan, Luke & Jesse Wyatt

Beginner Piano
Gladys Odegard Beginner Piano & 1st time in Festival Award – Anna Wyatt
CSE Recognition Award – Isla Bitto

Junior Piano
Violet Archer Award – Alvin Jiang
Violet Archer Award – Holden Schmidt
Violet Archer Award – Emily Huang
Michèle Gervais Award – Zack Thompson
Michèle Gervais Award – Ethan Wyatt

Intermediate Piano
CSE Recognition Award – Chenyi Jin
CSE Recognition Award – Kiera Castiday
CSE Recognition Award – Luke Wyatt
CSE Recognition Award – Davina Voss

Senior Piano
CSE Recognition Award – Michael Rico-Lam
CSE Recognition Award – Natalia Kuzma
CSE Recognition Award – Gabriel Makarewicz
CSE Recognition Award – Kathleen Cai
CSE Recognition Award – Simon Stadt

Advanced Piano
CSE Recognition Award – Mark Rico-Lam

Young Composers Program
Robert Rosen Memorial Award – Senior – Mark Rico-Lam
CSE Recognition Award – Junior – Yuuki Luong

ACNMP National Awards

Procedure:
The Contemporary Showcase centre must notify ACNMP of their nominee’s name and their piece. Each nominee will submit a link to a YouTube video of their personal performance and submit a copy of the score to info@acnmp.ca on or before December 15, 2025.

The recipient will be notified and an announcement will be made on the ACNMP website and Facebook page on or before January 30, 2026.

The Ann Southam Award

This performance excellence award is established in memory of pioneering Canadian composer Ann Southam by the Southam family. The award will recognize an outstanding performance of a work by a Canadian female composer.

Qualification: The nominee must have performed a work by a Canadian female composer. Each centre may submit one Senior candidate (Grade 9 and above) and one Junior candidate (up to and including Grade 8).

Amount of Award:  Senior $1,000 & Junior $500
This award is made possible by Kip Southam.

The Mary Gardiner Award of Performance Excellence

This award was established in 2010 to honour Mary Gardiner, an awarded composer, pianist, educator, mentor, great champion of Canadian music, and long-serving President of Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects.

Each centre may submit one senior candidate (Grade 9 and above) and one Junior candidate (up to and including Grade 8).

Qualification: The nominee must have participated for three years in the Contemporary Showcase festival at a high level of performance.

This award is made possible by memorial donations and the generosity of the Gardiner family and Eva Michalak.

Mary Hildebrand Memorial Award for Performance Excellence

Mary Hildebrand was a teacher, composer, and dedicated supporter of Contemporary Showcase Mississauga. This award has been established by Mary’s family.

Qualification: Each Contemporary Showcase Centre may submit one senior (Grade 9 and above) solo performance on the recommendation of the adjudicator.

Amount of Award: $500.00
This award is made possible by the family of Mary Hildebrand.

John Weinzweig Centenary Scholarship

To honour John Weinzweig, “the Dean of Canadian Composers,” ACNMP is pleased to announce a scholarship for the performance of solo works by John Weinzweig or by a first or second generation Weinzweig student. The scholarship is funded by “John Weinzweig ONE HUNDRED YEARS 1913–2013”.

There will be one junior (up to and including Grade 8) and one senior (Grade 9 and up) scholarship.

Qualification: Solo performances of any Weinzweig composition on the ACNMP syllabus (acnmp.ca) or of a solo work listed on johnweinzweig.com will be accepted. Or a solo work by one of John Weinzweig’s first or second generation students, such as Murray Adaskin, John Beckwith, Norma Beecroft, Brian Cherney, Samuel Dolin, Harry Freedman, Srul Irving Glick, R. Murray Schafer, Harry Somers. Click here for a list of Weinzweig’s students.

This scholarship is made possible by Daniel Weinzweig.

The Louise MacPhearson Memorial Award

This award is established in memory of Louise MacPherson, a prominent music teacher in Saskatoon, Vice President for the Canadian Music Competitions, and long-serving executive of the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers’ Association. 

Qualification: Each Contemporary Showcase Centre may submit one student composition on the recommendation of the adjudicator.

Procedure: The Contemporary Showcase centre must notify ACNMP of their nominee’s name and their piece. Each nominee will submit a link to a YouTube video of performance and submit a copy of the score to info@acnmp.ca on or before December 15, 2025. 

The recipient will be notified, and an announcement will be made on the ACNMP website and Facebook page on or before January 30, 2026. 

Amount of Award: $200.00

This award is made possible by her daughter Jill Kelman.