Daniel Bédard, a Sudbury composer, sound designer and record producer, has been awarded a prestigious Francophone award, l’Ordre de la Pléiade.
Established in 1976, the Ordre de la Pléiade is given by the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), made up of 87 parliaments and interparliamentary organizations across five continents.
The recipients of l’Ordre de la Pléiade were selected by a committee of parliamentarians in recognition for their exceptional contributions to the Francophonie in Ontario.
Two residents of Northern Ontario were awarded the prize, including Bédard and Michèle Leblanc of Hearst.
Bédard works as a composer, sound designer for film and multimedia installations. His work includes a special mention for “Creatures of The Abyss” at the Hong Kong Science Center (2012), “Otis' Migration” at the Philadelphia Zoo (2010), “Extinction Theater” at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa (2006) (winner of the Trille Or for best screen sound in 2013, 2011 and 2007 respectively).
He has produced and arranged several award-winning albums, including Stef Paquette / “Salut de l 'hinterland” (winner of the Trille Or for best album 2013) and Jacinthe Trudeau / “Echo” (winner in the Best Folk Album category at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards 2000, and winner of the Trille Or for the best instrumental album 2001).
He was the musical director for La nuit sur l’étang and for Ontario Pop and additionally has toured across Canada giving more than 500 performances with the children's show, Pierre et le Papillon. He developed and taught electronic music and composition courses at Laurentian University from 1988 to 2009.
