B.C.'s Leonard Schein, Nardwuar, and Barry Truax amid Order of Canada names
Included in the 80 announcements are the local film champion, eclectic interviewer, and electroacoustic pioneer
Leonard Schein, Nardwuar the Human Serviette, and Barry Truax.
SEVERAL LOCAL ARTS AND entertainment names are amid the Order of Canada announcements that went out on New Year’s Eve. Governor General of Canada Mary Simons made 80 new appointments in all, with the full list here.
Among them, Leonard Schein has been named a member of the Order of Canada for his work founding the Vancouver International Film Festival, Festival Cinemas (which operated the Fifth Avenue Cinemas, the Park and Ridge Theatre), and Alliance Atlantis Cinemas. He is a tireless leader on arts boards around the city, and his Schein Foundation supports charities across Vancouver.
Nardwuar the Human Serviette also joins the ranks of members of the Order. The indie-music and community-radio champion has developed a worldwide following across YouTube and social media for his deeply researched video interviews with some of music’s biggest stars—from Snoop Dogg to Billy Eilish—not to mention the odd prime minister. His career launched at CiTR radio at UBC, and he later appeared on Much Music in the 1990s; he’s also keyboardist and vocalist for the band The Evaporators.
Joining those recipients is electroacoustic pioneer Barry Truax, a professor emeritus at SFU who is a leading authority in acoustic communication and music innovation—including his multichannel soundscape compositions; the development of granular synthesis using sampled sounds; and the GSX computer music system. He’s an original member of the World Soundscape Project, which focuses on acoustic ecology and noise pollution and was initiated by late Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. (Listen to one of Truax’s best-known pieces, 1986’s Riverrun, below.)
Meanwhile, B.C. children’s music star Raffi Cavoukian was raised to a Companion of the Order of Canada for his impact across generations, his songs carrying messages of environmental stewardship, love, and peace.
And Simon Brault, the Quebec-based former head of the Canada Council for the Arts, was also named a Companion; he was recognized for "focusing on democratization and accessibility, strengthening support for artists including those from diverse backgrounds and indigenous communities”. 
Related Articles
