The Board of Directors of the Fredericton Playhouse is pleased to name Don Bossé as the 2021 recipient of the Playhouse Honours.
Don is an engaged, active musician with an impressive record of service in New Brunswick. For over 35 years he taught music in public schools, beginning at the elementary school level, and eventually reinvigorating the music program as head of the Fine Arts Department at Fredericton High School over a period of 2 decades. He currently lectures in the Faculty of Fine Arts and the School of Education at St. Thomas University, and has been the founder and director of the St. Thomas University Jazz Ensemble for the past 26 years.
Established in 2008, the Playhouse Honours recognizes an individual’s involvement in the performing arts in Fredericton, fostering a deeper appreciation of the value that people can bring to community life through their work in music, theatre, dance, spoken-word and multidisciplinary performing arts.
“Music has a way of connecting us with one another and with ourselves. Don Bossé’s accomplishments exemplify this connectivity – inspiring students as a teacher or helping connect us as listeners through his artistry,” said Murray Jamer, President of the Fredericton Playhouse board.
In 2015 Bossé was presented with the Lieutenant-Governor’s New Brunswick Youth Orchestra Award, followed by the 2016 MusiCounts Canada’s Teacher of the Year award, and was honoured as a VIP at the 2016 Juno Awards in Calgary. He currently serves on the Fredericton Arts Alliance Board, and is on the Board of Governors, the Academic Senate, and the Alumni Association at St. Thomas University.
In consultation with the Office of First Nations Education, Bossé has recently completed a Grade 9 to 12 Indigenous Music Resource guide and is currently working on a Middle School Indigenous Music guide. He is an active musician with several jazz groups in the region, while continuing to work as a clinician, adjudicator, conductor, and lecturer, promoting jazz music and championing methods in early childhood development as well as secondary and post-secondary music education.
The Fredericton Playhouse acknowledges generous support from promotional partner Atlantic Mediaworks for their contribution of services to the program.