OTTAWA – Carleton University on June 12 conferred a Doctor of Music, honoris causa, on Roman Borys in recognition of his outstanding achievements as a musician of international renown, an educator and a leader in bringing together some of Canada’s most talented artists to perform on the international stage.
“Creativity flourishes in an environment of limited possibilities,” said Mr. Borys. “You can’t come up with a brilliant solution if you don’t have a decent problem. So when you hit your hurdles just keep moving and take confidence in the knowledge that from constraints come possibilities.“
Mr. Borys was honored during a convocation for students in Carleton’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences; some of the 3,345 undergraduate and graduate students received their degrees over four days.
“If you really work hard and believe in what you are doing and commit to a path that brings you satisfaction and fulfillment, people will support you no matter what they thought you should be doing and good things shall follow,” said Mr. Borys.
Over the course of two decades, Mr. Borys, a cellist and producer, has distinguished himself as one of Canada’s leading artistic voices. As a founding member of the two-time Juno Award-winning Gryphon Trio, he has released 16 acclaimed records, toured internationally since 1993 and broken new artistic ground through cross-genre collaborations and multimedia performances. Most recently, the Gryphon Trio was awarded the Canada Council for the Arts’ Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.
As the artistic director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society, Mr. Borys oversees all aspects of programming its summer Chamberfest, one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world, and its fall-winter concert series.
Mr. Borys teaches at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music alongside his Gryphon Trio colleagues – violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon and pianist Jamie Parker.
“Roman Borys is one of Canada’s most celebrated cellists and chamber musicians,” said James Wright, associate music professor at Carleton. “He is a consummate professional musician. A performing artist, director, producer, arts advocate, impresario, teacher and mentor who has achieved a masterful level of excellence in all that he does.”