CINARS announced today the departure of Nassib El-Husseini from the Board of Directors and the appointment of Claude de Grandpré in his place.

El-Husseini, a Ph.D. in Political Science, is the CEO of The 7 Fingers and an outstanding figure in contemporary circus in Quebec. Over the past few years, El-Husseini has also brought his generosity and his great diplomacy to the CINARS Board of Directors.

Most recently, El-Husseini has sent a farewell message to CINARS members and followers that we publish here in its entirety:

After 13 years, 10 of which spent as Chairman of the Board, it is time to pass the torch. This commitment was obvious to an organization that plays a vital role in the circulation of works internationally by creating roads and bridges to facilitate their dissemination. CINARS was able to play this role brilliantly, and I am honored to have been able to contribute to this mission.

I had the privilege of serving the cause alongside Alain Paré, the organization’s founder and the person who, until very recently, was in charge of it. Words fail me to express all the respect I have for the work he accomplished and the efforts he made for almost 40 years.

I would like to express my gratitude to the colleagues I have had the honor of working with over the years, both the volunteers who have sat on the Boards of Directors and the members of the teams who have succeeded one another. Thank you for your trust, wisdom, and dedication Barbara Scales, Chantal Cimon, George Skalkogiannis, Jean-François Guindon, Marie-Catherine Lapointe, Corinne Jozsef, Annick-Patricia Carrière, Alain Paré, Sylvain Corneau, Laurence Wegscheider, Mayi-Eder Inchauspé, and John Lambert.

I would also like to thank the stakeholders from the governments of Quebec, Canada, and Montreal, loyal historical partners of CINARS.

I am very happy to pass the torch to Claude De Grandpré (thank you, Claude, you are most certainly the right person in the right place at the right time!), who accepted without hesitation the hand extended by his colleagues Chloé Besner, Mickaël Spinnhirny, Evelyne Morrisseau, Marjorie Deschamps, and Philip Giffard on the CINARS Board of Directors. A board [that is] determined to accompany our general manager, Gilles Doré, to write a new chapter in the time of the generational paradigm shift and its heavy trends marking the new ways of experiencing culture in general and the performing arts in particular.

Environmental, geopolitical, and economic challenges demand that we rethink our ways of doing things. Furthermore, new technologies present both opportunities and threats to shaping the future of the international circulation of works, which is at a pivotal moment. We must be aware of these issues and work together to find sustainable and innovative solutions.

For all these reasons, I will always be, like my colleagues in the performing arts community, at the service of CINARS.

Long life!

Nassib Al-Husseini

Alongside Al-Husseini’s message, the CINARS Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Claude de Grandpré.

Claude de Grandpré has held the position of Board Treasurer for five years. As general manager of the Theatre Hector-Charland in L’Assomption, in the south of the Lanaudière region, he participated for over 25 years in the development of a structure that currently broadcasts more than 500 shows annually. Two complementary performance halls make it possible to carry out important specifications around the different disciplines of the performing arts. The Maison Jacques-Parizeau, built in 2021, can now accommodate resident companies on their creative projects. As well, the dance territory center constitutes a unique development platform for the discipline and for the “Fous de théâtre” festival, a unique annual event for the spotlighting of new and creative speech.

In 2022, de Grandpré received the Medal of the National Assembly in recognition of his entire career. Under his management, the Hector-Charland Corporation has received 5 Félix awards from L’ADISQ, the Broadcaster of the Year award from the RIDEAU organization, and more than a dozen national and regional awards related to its disciplinary development in the course of the last 20 years.

There is no doubt that Claude’s good listening sense and unifying spirit will allow CINARS to begin a new chapter under his benevolent eye!