Acclaimed Vancouver violinist Andrew Dawes is being honoured for his musical accomplishments with a Governor General’s award.

Dawes is among six Canadians who are receiving the 2013 prizes for lifetime artistic achievement in the performing arts, organizers announced today (April 10).

Born in Alberta, Dawes has toured internationally and received numerous awards and honours during a career spanning several decades.

For 26 years he held the position of first violinist with the critically acclaimed Orford String Quartet.

At present, he is director of the Chamber Music Institute at the Vancouver Academy of Music and a sessional lecturer at the UBC School of Music.

Also receiving one of the $25,000 lifetime-achievement awards is renowned actor Eric Peterson, who has played roles on the CBC drama Street Legal and the CTV sitcom Corner Gas.

Peterson launched his acting career in Vancouver in the early 1970s, helping to establish the experimental Tamahnous Theatre company.

Working with playwright John Gray, Peterson also helped create and starred in the popular musical drama Billy Bishop Goes to War, which premiered in Vancouver in 1976.

The other winners of this year’s Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement are musician Daniel Lanois, filmmaker Jean Pierre Lefebvre, actor Viola Léger, and dancer Menaka Thakkar.

Meanwhile, filmmaker Sarah Polley is receiving the National Arts Centre Award and fundraiser Jean Pierre Desrosiers is receiving the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Volunteerism in the Performing Arts.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston presents the awards during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on May 31.