Beverley Johnston honoured with 2025 Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance
The Ontario Arts Council is delighted to announce that percussionist Beverley Johnston is the recipient of the 2025 Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance. This award is presented biennially to an outstanding Canadian performer or conductor in the field of classical music who has elevated their craft and been met with widespread acclaim.
Beverley will receive the award on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at the University of Toronto New Music Festival's Composition Prize Winners’ Concert, which also celebrates the winners of the University of Toronto’s Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music and the Ann H. Atkinson Prize in Composition. The University of Toronto New Music Festival runs from January 23 to February 3, 2026.
Learn more about Beverley Johnston.
Beverley Johnston. (Photo: Bo Huang)About Beverley Johnston, OC
- Beverley Johnston is one of Canada’s most celebrated percussionists, internationally acclaimed for her unconventional, theatrical style and her electrifying performances, which blend classical transcriptions and contemporary works.
- She has performed at major international percussion events (such as the Zeltsman Marimba Festival, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, the Stockholm International Percussion Event and the Shenyang International Percussion Festival) and Canadian new music festivals (such as Vancouver New Music, the Winnipeg New Music Festival and Festival of the Sound).
- Beverley has collaborated with a wide range of musical ensembles and artists, including the Amici Chamber Ensemble, Penderecki String Quartet, Art of Time Ensemble, TorQ Percussion Quartet, NEXUS, violinist Marc Djokic and flautist Susan Hoeppner.
- She also collaborates across disciplines, with notable projects involving dance, theatre, and visual artists. Highlights include Psionic Interference, a solo dance/music work with percussion integrated into her costume, and Frankenstein’s Ghosts, a multimedia project with choreographer Michael Montanaro. Recent commissions include Clockwork Cummings by David Occhipinti and wild with the music of color by Holly Winter, inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe.
- She has also championed numerous works by Christos Hatzis, including Fertility Rites, Pyrrichean Dances, and Tongues of Fire.
- She has twice served as faculty at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and has been a faculty member at the University of Toronto since 1996.
- In 2024, Beverley was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC), inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame, and received the Toronto Musicians’ Association Lifetime Achievement Award. She was named an Ambassador of the Canadian Music Centre in 2009.
- Beverley has released seven solo albums to date, with an eighth album due to be released in 2026.
Beverley Johnston. (Photo: Bo Huang)Quote
The assessors were unanimous in selecting Beverley Johnston as the laureate of the 2025 Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music. They said, “Beverley’s artistry represents pure excellence. We were moved by her commitment to commissioning and premiering new works, which has expanded the Canadian repertoire and inspired future generations of percussionists. She is a visionary collaborator leading to the creation of unique interdisciplinary projects. Beverley has placed percussion and Canadian music at the forefront of today’s concert stage.”
About the Oskar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance
- Established in 2007, this award honours the legacy of Oskar Morawetz – one of Canada's leading composers of contemporary music, whose career spanned more than 50 years. Learn more about Dr. Morawetz.
- Previous winners include pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico (2023), pianist Angela Hewitt (2021) and operatic baritone Russell Braun (2019). Full list of laureates.
- The Ontario Arts Council administers the jury process for the Oskar Morawetz Award. This year’s jury consisted of composer/educator Stacey Brown (St. John’s, NL), emerging cellist and educator Solina Lee (Edmonton, AB), and 2023 Morawetz laureate Christina Petrowska Quilico (Toronto, ON).