Four inductees are being honoured into The Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame, including 73-year-old Prince Albert-born guitarist, musician, and educator, Jean-Laurent Fournier.
“I was very surprised because I can think of a lot of people that I would have named long before I would have named me,” said Fournier, when asked about his reaction regarding the induction.
The Prince Albert Arts Board inducted Fournier into the Arts Hall of Fame for performing arts in music.
“It really is wonderful to have been acclaimed and everything,” he said. “But the thing that has really been nice about it is that because of it, it has reminded me of all the wonderful, wonderful musicians that I have taught over the years—and that’s a privilege that is very, very rare.”
Fournier has more than five-decades of dedication to music within the Prince Albert community. From beginning his musical journey at a young age to teaching over 1,000 students under his company, Fournier Guitar Studios, The Prince Albert Arts board describes him as a “pillar of music education, performance, and community service.”
“When I decided to go into teaching, I already knew what most of the people were struggling with, so it made it easier for me to fix those issues,” he explained. “I did it because nobody else would.”
He added that though the community used to offer guitar classes in the Prince Albert Music Festival, he found its exclusivity was limiting for other players.
“They were only for classical guitar players, like Royal Conservatory guitar players. And there’s guitar players that play with a pick. There’s guitar players that play with pick and fingers, there’s all sorts of different types of guitar players,” Fournier said. “And just to accommodate one type of guitar player I didn’t think was right, so I started my own guitar festival that would accommodate different types of guitar players.”
The musician explained his love for the instrument, stating that, “it’s the best instrument in the world.”
“On a violin, you have a bow. On wood instruments, you have reeds. There’s all these sorts of things that are in between you and the actual sound making. On the guitar, it’s your fingers,” said Fournier. “There’s nothing in between you and the sound.”
Outside the classroom environment, Fournier offers his musical capabilities towards community services, including working alongside the Prince Albert Children’s Choir.
“One of the nicest things about music is that it can take you away from everything else. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever known, and it’s one of the best things ever for giving young people a sense of worth,” said Fournier.
He emphasized that support from the government towards the arts is essential for youth.
“If the governments are really as interested in doing what is the best for our children, if they are truly interested in looking after the world of tomorrow, they need to take a much better look at looking after the young people of today,” Fournier explained. “And one of the best things they can do for the young people of today is make music a lot more accessible to them.”
He added that, “we need to put a lot more emphasis on music now that we’ve got all of the emphasis we need on sports.”
“With all of these new sports facilities they built and everything else like that, we are really doing very, very well to accommodate the athletes, those that are gifted athletically. But we still have a long way to go. We’re catching up to taking care of those that are gifted in the arts and creativity,” said Fournier.
The 2026 Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame Induction Gala is set to take place on Sept. 25 at the E.A Rawlinson Centre for the Arts.
“Get into music and love it. Better yet, get into it because you’ll love it. Whenever you share your talent with others, you’re not only doing something for yourself, but you’re doing something really cool for others,” said Fournier.
