Arts

Angela Hewitt honoured for her lifetime dedication to Bach

The Governor General's Performing Arts Award recognizes Angela Hewitt's excellence in classical music
One of Canada's most acclaimed musicians has been granted the country's highest honour. (Lorenzo Dogana)

Not since Glenn Gould has Canada seen a Bach pianist like Angela Hewitt. A prodigy, she grew up in a musical family in Ottawa and began playing the piano at the age of three. On Friday, she accepts a Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award in Classical Music at the 2018 Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.

It's actually her second GG. Hewitt won her first Governor General's Award in 2003 and she remains a household name in the realm of Canadian classical music. London's The Sunday's Times hailed her recordings of Bach's major works as "one of the record glories of our age."

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Angela Hewitt - Governor General's Performing Arts Awards

7 years ago
Duration 1:29
Angela Hewitt - Governor General's Performing Arts Awards

In addition to Bach, she has recorded and performed solo works by Beethoven, Chopin, Couperin and Rameau along with concertos by Schumann and Mozart. She has numerous Juno awards and nominations to her name, and has performed in top venues around the world. 

Hewitt is currently in the midst of The Bach Odyssey, a series of twelve recitals of all of Bach's keyboard works, performed around the world over four years.

On June 1, Angela Hewitt, among other laureates, are being honoured with the highest distinction a performing artist can achieve in Canada — a Governor General's Performing Arts Award. Find out more.