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Joual
Joual is the name given, in specific sociological and socio-historical situations, to the variety of French spoken in Québec.
Quebec Film History: 1990 to Present
This entry presents an overview of Quebec cinema, from the explosion that followed Denys Arcand’s Le déclin de l’empire américain (1986) to the setback that followed 10 years later and the new wave of filmmaking that emerged at the beginning of the 21st century. It highlights the most important films, whether in terms of box office success or international acclaim, and covers both narrative features and documentaries. It also draws attention to an aspect of filmmaking that still has difficulty finding its place: women's cinema.
Christmas Music
Of all Christmas music Handel's Messiah has been the major work most frequently performed during the Christmas season across Canada.
Heritage Minutes
The Heritage Minutes collection is a bilingual series of history-focused public service announcements. Each 60-second short film depicts a significant person, event or story in Canadian history. They are produced by Historica Canada, the not-for-profit organization that also publishes this encyclopedia. First released in 1991, the Heritage Minutes have been shown on television, in cinemas and online. They have become a recognizable part of Canadian culture. The collection currently includes 99 episodes.
Canadian Women's Press Club
The Canadian Women's Press Club (CWPC) was founded in June 1904 in a Canadian Pacific Railway Pullman car, aboard which 16 women (half anglophone, half francophone) travelled to the St. Louis World's Fair. All but one were working journalists who covered the event. The CWPC offered female journalists professional support and development in its mission to “maintain and improve the status of journalism as a profession for women.”
Canadian Film History: Notable Films and Filmmakers 1980 to Present
Filmmaking is a powerful form of cultural and artistic expression, as well as a highly profitable commercial enterprise. From a practical standpoint, filmmaking is a business involving large sums of money and a complex division of labour. This labour is involved, roughly speaking, in three sectors: production, distribution and exhibition. The history of the Canadian film industry has been one of sporadic achievement accomplished in isolation against great odds. Canadian cinema has existed within an environment where access to capital for production, to the marketplace for distribution and to theatres for exhibition has been extremely difficult. The Canadian film industry, particularly in English Canada, has struggled against the Hollywood entertainment monopoly for the attention of an audience that remains largely indifferent toward the domestic industry. The major distribution and exhibition outlets in Canada have been owned and controlled by foreign interests. The lack of domestic production throughout much of the industry’s history can only be understood against this economic backdrop.
This article is one of four that surveys the history of the film industry in Canada. The entire series includes: Canadian Film History: 1896 to 1938; Canadian Film History: 1939 to 1973; Canadian Film History: 1974 to Present; Canadian Film History: Notable Films and Filmmakers 1980 to Present.
Documenting the Second World War
When Canada declared war on Germany on 10 September 1939, tens of thousands of Canadians enlisted to serve in the army, navy, air force and supporting services. The military scrambled to buy equipment, train recruits and prepare for war. Little thought was given, at first, to documenting the war effort. By 1940, however, the military was recruiting historians, most notably Charles Stacey, to collect records and write accounts of Canadian operations. In the following years, artists, photographers and filmmakers also served with the various branches of the armed forces. Today, their diligent work provides a rich visual and written catalogue of Canada’s history in the Second World War.
The Wars
Timothy Findley’s 1977 novel about the mental and physical destruction of a young Canadian soldier in the First World War won the Governor General’s Literary Award for English Language Fiction. It is widely regarded as one of the country’s definitive historical war novels. It has been called “one of the most remarkable novels of war ever published” and “the finest historical novel ever written by a Canadian.” The Globe and Mail referred to The Wars as “the great Canadian novel about the First World War.”
Irish Music in Canada
The Irish component in the population of Canada is the fourth largest (after English, French, and Scottish) and one of the oldest. Irish fishermen settled in Newfoundland in the early 17th century. By the mid-18th century that island had some 5000 Roman Catholic Irish inhabitants - about one-third of its population. There were Irish among those who founded Halifax in 1749. The United Empire Loyalists who moved to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick after 1776 included many of Irish descent. The famine in Ireland during the early 19th century sent thousands of Irish farmers to Upper Canada (Ontario). By 1871 the Irish were the second largest ethnic group in Canada (after the French); in 1950 there were 1,500,000 Irish, catholic and protestant. In the 1986 census there were 699,685 Canadians of single Irish descent and a further 2,922,605 with some Irish ancestry.
German Music in Canada
In 1986 Canadians of German descent formed the fifth largest ethnic group in Canada - after French, English, Scottish, and Irish. In 1986 the figure was approximately 900,000 of German origin and an estimated 1,700,000 with German-speaking ancestors from various parts of Europe.
Conductors and conducting
IntroductionConductors and conducting. The practice of beating time with hand, foot, stick, bow, or rolled-up sheet of paper to co-ordinate group performance is centuries old.
Atlantic Canadian Composers' Association/Association des Compositeurs Canadiens de l'Atlantique
Atlantic Canadian Composers' Association/Association des Compositeurs Canadiens de l'Atlantique (ACCA). Organization formed in 1979, through the initiative of Clifford Ford, at that time on the faculty of Dalhousie University.
Come From Away
Come From Away is a Canadian musical based on the true story of how the residents of Gander, Newfoundland, welcomed stranded airline passengers into their homes in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The play, with book and music by Toronto-based husband-and-wife team Irene Sankoff and David Hein, was developed at Toronto’s Sheridan College. It enjoyed successful runs in Connecticut, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, DC, and Toronto before becoming the sleeper hit of the 2016–17 season on Broadway. Come From Away has won more than two dozen awards, including three Dora Awards and a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. It also became the first Canadian show to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in London’s West End. A feature film adaptation was announced in November 2017.
Winnipeg Male Voice Choir
Winnipeg Male Voice Choir. An enterprise of the Men's Music Club. Founded in 1916 as a quartet of club members, it had increased by 1918 to 46. On the death in 1920 of its founding conductor, George Price, Cyril F. Musgrove was brought from England to take over the choir.
Youth Orchestras
The Halluci Nation (A Tribe Called Red)
Electronic group The Halluci Nation (previously known as A Tribe Called Red) has garnered international acclaim for its politically charged, powwow drum-driven dance music. Featuring the DJs Bear Witness (Thomas Ehren Ramon) and 2oolman (Tim Hill), the group emerged from an Ottawa club party called Electric Pow Wow, which began in 2007. Former members include DJ Shub (Dan General), and founding members DJ NDN (Ian Campeau) and Dee Jay Frame (Jon Limoges). The group has described its “powwow step” music as “the soundtrack to a contemporary evolution of the powwow.” ATCR is part of what broadcaster and educator Wab Kinew has called the “Indigenous Music Renaissance,” an innovative new generation of Indigenous artists in Canada. The group was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize in 2013 and 2017, and has won three Juno Awards, including Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2014 and Group of the Year in 2018.
Waterloo Musical Society Band
Waterloo Musical Society Band. Civic band normally of 32-45 players, founded in 1882 under the auspices of the Waterloo Musical Society. In its early years it participated in many competitions or tournaments, winning nine prizes in a single year during the 1880s.
Chart Magazine and Chart Attack
One of Canada's longest running and most respected music publications, Chart was a Toronto-based monthly music magazine published by Chart Communications from 1991 until 2009.
Book Clubs
Canada's first book club was started in 1928 when the T. Eaton Company LTD offered its customers "a selective literary service." A committee of literary authorities made a monthly selection of titles - sold to the membership at an average price of $2.