The Kathleen McMorrow Music Award was established in 2015. Kathleen McMorrow headed the Music Library at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music from 1974 to 2013. She established the award to recognize and encourage the composition and presentation of Canadian contemporary classical music. The Ontario Arts Foundation manages the endowment that funds the award.

The Ontario Arts Foundation manages the endowment that funds the award. The Ontario Arts Council is responsible for the selection process. The award recipient is selected from the applicants to one of the two annual Ontario Arts Council Music Creation Projects program deadlines.

Prize:  $10,000 (per recipient)

Current Recipients

Alice Ping Yee Ho
Alice Ping Yee Ho is being awarded for Beneath the Sea of Time, a concerto for harp and chamber orchestra, commissioned by the JUNO Award–winning Sinfonia Toronto under Maestro Nurhan Arman. The piece will premiere on March 4, 2027, at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, featuring Canadian harpist Teresa Suen-Campbell.