Pictured left to right: Walter DeBoni, award co-recipient; Irene co-recipient; Janna Sailor, CMC Prairie Region Director; Léa Plourde-Archer, author/illustrator

The Canadian Music Centre (CMC) Prairie Region is proud to announce that Walter and Irene DeBoni are the inaugural recipients of the Violet Archer Award: For extraordinary contribution to Canadian music on November 23 during ArcherFest 2025. This award was presented to Walter and Irene by Léa Plourde-Archer, grand-niece of renowned Canadian composer Violet Archer and author/illustrator of Violet’s Path: the melodious life of Violet Balestreri Archer.

In honour of the tremendous legacy of Violet Archer and CMC Prairie’s 45th anniversary, CMC Prairie created the Violet Archer Award for extraordinary contribution to Canadian music. This award was bestowed on behalf of the associate composers of CMC Prairie.

CMC Prairie Associate Composer Vincent Ho wrote a statement on the deserving recipients for this inaugural award:

“Walt and Irene DeBoni have played a critical role in building our local, regional, and national musical culture by commissioning new creations from many of our Country’s leading composers. Their support for the arts has enriched our cultural fabric in far-reaching ways while directly improving and impacting lives. Like many great patrons throughout history, the DeBoni’s commitment to supporting the arts has shaped our national identify by defining who we are in musical form. As a result of Walt and Irene’s dedication to the support of composers, there are now more works than ever entering the canon of Canadian repertoire that orchestras, chamber ensembles, soloists, and students can learn from and perform in concerts far beyond our nation’s borders, thereby making significant cultural impacts on a global scale. For these reasons and more, and on behalf of the entire Canadian new music community, we the composers fully support CMC’s decision to award Walt and Irene DeBoni the Violet Archer Award for extraordinary contributions to Canadian music.”

Congratulations to Walter and Irene DeBoni!

For more information on the award recipients and media requests, please contact CMC Prairie Regional Director at: janna.sailor@cmccanada.org

To see all other CMC Prairie Award winners, visit here.