An eclectic group of musicians and artists will perform in honour of iconic singer, songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen, the Ninth Laureate of The Glenn Gould Prize, on Monday, May 14 at 8:30 p.m. at Toronto’s Massey Hall. Mr. Cohen will be present to receive his award at this ceremony.

Billed as The Glenn Gould Prize Gala Concert in Honour of Leonard Cohen, the star-studded evening is hosted by Colm Feore and includes musical performances by Cowboy Junkies, Adam Cohen, Serena Ryder, folk singer Basia Bulat, award-winning country singer/songwriters John Prine, James McMurtry, Jimmie Dale Gilmore; and poetry readings by Gordon Pinsent with Greg Keelor (Blue Rodeo) and Travis Good (the Sadies). Former Governor General and long-time friend, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson will also deliver a spoken tribute.

The Glenn Gould Prize, valued at $50,000 (CDN), has been referred to as “The Nobel Prize of the Arts” and is awarded biennially to a living individual for a unique lifetime contribution that has enriched the human condition through the arts.

Regarding his Glenn Gould Prize, Mr. Cohen stated, ” ¨”I want to thank The Glenn Gould Foundation for their kindness. It is a great honour, sweetened by my love of the work of Glenn Gould, and our collective appreciation of his invigorating and enduring presence in the world of Music and Imagination.”

Mr. Cohen has chosen Sistema Toronto to receive The City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize of $15,000 (CDN). He will present the award to young ambassadors from Sistema Toronto at the Glenn Gould Prize Gala Concert next week. “There is no telling how powerful this impact will be in future years,” said David Visentin, the Executive and Artistic Director of Sistema Toronto. “By awarding the children of Sistema Toronto the collective honour of being named The City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégés, Leonard Cohen is giving much more than a prize. He is instilling hope, awakening dreams, and he is challenging talent to reveal itself in the years to come.”

Sistema Toronto was inspired by the 2009 Celebration of Music Week presented by The Glenn Gould Foundation that featured the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and musicians of El Sistema in honour of Eighth Prize Laureate and El Sistema founder, Dr. José Antonio Abreu. Sistema Toronto was launched in 2011 and is a collaboration with the Toronto District School Board. The program offers free, intensive music education to children in the culturally diverse neighbourhood of Parkdale and plans to expand throughout the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. The students work with professional artists and teachers for two hours at the end of every school day, and after three years each child will have received the equivalent of over ten years’ musical experience. Musical education can help in so many ways for children, especially with their development and aiding them in finding a creative outlet. There are programs out there that schools can access to help education like this reach schools who do not have the appropriate funding. To find out more about this, websites such as savethemusic.org are able to provide a deeper background into why this can be beneficial for all.

Tickets to The Glenn Gould Prize Gala Concert in Honour of Leonard Cohen can be purchased by calling 416-872-4255 or online at masseyhall.com or roythomson.com.

The Glenn Gould Foundation has also programmed a series of free events starting today, Monday, May 7, 2012 in celebration of this iconic singer, songwriter, poet, artist and novelist. The series includes “Artworks” – Leonard Cohen Visual Art Exhibition at the Allen Lambert Galleria (Brookfield Place) from May 7 to 19. As well, the Toronto Jewish Film Festival presents a ticketed free screening of three films in celebration of Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, I Am A Hotel, and the 1965 National Film Board documentary Ladies and Gentlemen…Mr. Leonard Cohen. For more information on these free events, click here.