Media Contact: Katie Saunoris, Publicist !"#.$%&.#$#! x."!# katie @soulpepper.ca MEDIA ADVISORY SOULPEPPER ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ALBERT SCHULTZ RECEIVES THE NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE AWARD FOR ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT Toronto, ON – March $#, $%"!: Albert Schultz, C.M., Soulpepper’s Founding Artistic Director, was today announced as this year’s recipient of the prestigious National Arts Centre Award by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation. A complementary award to the Foundation’s Lifetime Artistic Achievement Awards, this honour recognizes Schultz’s exceptional and signifi cant artistic achievements over the past performance year, including his starring role in marathon performances of Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests and his lauded direction of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America . “This is a great and humbling honour for a very proud Canadian,” said Schultz. “When I look at the previous recipients of this award, I am overwhelmed by the privilege of joining their company!” The $%"! laureates will be honoured at various events in Ottawa in early May, culminating in the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala presented by Enbridge at the National Arts Centre on Saturday, May "% at #:&% p.m. For more information on the awards please visit ))paa.ca. $%"! Soulpepper Lead Sponsors are: Scotiabank, TELUS and the Michael & Karen Vukets Family Foundation. Soulpepper gratefully acknowledges annual operating support from the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts. The Soulpepper Academy is supported in part by the Canada Arts Training Fund at Canadian Heritage. Located in its multi-venue home, the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto’s Distillery Historic District, Soulpepper is Canada’s largest urban theatre company. Founded and guided by artists, under the leadership of Artistic Director Albert Schultz, C.M., and Executive Director Leslie Lester, Soulpepper has a complex and integrated mission which includes: industry-leading youth outreach initiatives; the Soulpepper Academy, Canada’s only multi-year, paid professional training program for theatre artists of all disciplines; and a year-round diverse repertory season which is grounded in the classics and committed to the creation of new works, new forms, and innovative practices. -&%- For interviews or more information, please contact Publicist Katie Saunoris ([email protected])..