Mayor's Arts Award for Music
2017 recipients
Giorgio Magnanensi
Honouree
Giorgio Magnanensi is an Italian Canadian composer of orchestral, chamber and multimedia works that have been performed throughout Europe and elsewhere. He is also active as a conductor and live electronics performer.
As a conductor, he served in many permanent positions in Italy, and as principal conductor of the Vancouver New Music Ensemble since 2000. As a guest conductor, he has conducted in Europe, Japan, and Canada. Giorgio taught composition in various positions in Italy from 1984-1999, and lectured at the College of Music in Tokyo in 1996 and 1998. He is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Community College, and is the artistic director of Vancouver New Music.
Stefan Maier
Emerging artist
Stefan Maier (b. 1990) is an artist from Vancouver, Canada. His compositions have been presented by: Fonema Consort, Chicago; G(o)ng Tomorrow, Copenhagen; Vancouver New Music; Experimental Studio des SWR, Freiburg; ECLAT, Stuttgart; Talea Ensemble, New York; and Nouvelle Ensemble Moderne, Montreal. He has exhibited at 67, New York and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.
Upcoming projects include new works for: Vertixe Sonora, Santiago de Compostela and No Hay Banda, Montreal, and an appearance at the Ultima festival, Oslo. In 2014, he was a fellow at the Harvard Summer Composition Institute. In 2016, his concert-installation Music for Organs, written in collaboration with Ragnhild May, was recognized as an outstanding composition of the year by the Danish Arts Council.
Juno-nominated composer Jocelyn Morlock has been Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s composer in residence since 2014, after completing a term as composer in residence for Music on Main. Jocelyn’s musical accolades include: 2002 International Rostrum of Composers (Top 10); 2003 CMC Prairie Region Emerging Composers competition(winner); Mayor’s Arts Awards Emerging Artist (2008); and Juno Nomination for Classical Composition of the Year (2011). Her first full-length CD, Cobalt, was nominated for three Western Canadian Music Awards and won Classical Composition of the Year (2015).
Brad Turner has become one of Canada’s most in-demand and highly esteemed musicians through his talents as a trumpeter, pianist, drummer, and composer.
Peggy Lee, cellist, improviser, and composer, makes her home in Vancouver where she is part of a rich, creative music community. She records and performs with longtime musical associates including Tony Wilson, Ron Samworth, Dylan van der Schyff, John Korsrud, Veda Hille, Lisa Miller, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb. 
Cole Schmidt is an active participant in Vancouver's creative music scene. In addition to curating the weekly music series “NoSchMo,” which features original, improvising groups, he regularly performs with such local mentors as Peggy Lee, Ron Samworth, and Tony Wilson.
John Korsrud is a composer, bandleader, trumpet player, and educator. He studied composition with Louis Andriessen in Amsterdam from 1995 to 1997. Composition commissions include the Vancouver Symphony, the CBC Radio Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble, and several Dutch ensembles. His film scores have received Leo and Yorkton Awards and Gemini nominations. Korsrud’s career highlight was performing his trumpet concerto at Carnegie Hall, commissioned and performed by the American Composers Orchestra in 2010. 
Eli Bennett, an international award-winning saxophonist and emerging film composer, is Canada’s most recognized emerging jazz artist. At only 23, Bennett is a two-time recipient of the CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award from the National Jazz Awards, and has been named a Rico Reeds Artist and a Yamaha Young Performing Artist.
Jeremy Berkman is a trombonist and founding co-artistic director/ensemble member of Turning Point Ensemble (TPE). He has had a varied career in both musical performance and backstage production.
Iman Habibi is an award-winning composer and pianist whose music has been programmed by numerous concert organizations, such as The Marilyn Horne Foundation (New York), The Canadian Opera Company (Toronto), Tapestry New Opera (Toronto), Atlantic Music Festival (Maine), the BC Scene Festival (Ottawa), the Powell Street Festival (Vancouver), and Vox Novus (New York). 
Dr Salvador Ferreras is first and foremost a percussionist, but also a dedicated music educator and producer. He is artistic director of the Literary Cabaret at the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival, dean of the Vancouver Community College School of Music, former member of the British Columbia Arts Council, and a regular advisor on cultural policy with various organization in Canada.
Evan Arntzen is a saxophonist, clarinetist, and vocalist born and raised in Vancouver. Coming from a musical family, he was instructed by his grandfather, Lloyd Arntzen, who taught him New Orleans jazz from the time he was seven years old. He completed the Capilano University Jazz Studies program in 2007 and has been establishing himself as a powerful young voice in the Canadian jazz scene.
Colin Miles has, for over three decades, been a tireless advocate for Canadian music and composers. Based in Vancouver, he has championed generations of our city's composers and provided leadership not only in our city and our region, but also abroad for the promotion of our country's music.
Jordan Nobles, known for creating music filled with an "unearthly beauty" (Mondomagazine), has emerged as one of Canada's finest composers. Known for his commitment to spatial music, he often takes performers and audiences away from traditional concert experiences. Whether surrounding audiences with ten flutes, filling museums with live musicians on multiple floors, or inviting players to move across the stage during performances, he adds an extra, and often emotional, level of conversation to musical thought.