Laura Fernandez

Last updated
Laura Fernandez
Born1960
Madrid, Spain
Occupation(s)Musician, artist, broadcaster

Laura Maria Fernandez [1] (born 1960 [2] on 20 May) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, music producer, artist, radio host, and real estate agent. Fernandez was born in Madrid, Spain. In 2003, she was named Best Soft Rock musician at the New York International Independent Music Festival. [3] She hosts Café Latino on JazzFM91 (formerly CJRT), Toronto, and her Latin-music was produced by Billy Bryans. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life

Fernandez was born in Madrid, Spain. She moved from Madrid to Switzerland and then to Calgary, Alberta, Canada with her family. Her father was an engineer, writer and a painter. In grade 7 she studied piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music. [6]

She graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design with Honours (1983). She met artist Rick Jacobson while in college. They married and moved to Toronto, Ontario. They started their own business: Jacobson Fernandez Illustration. [7]

Visual arts

Fernandez painted the Maple leaf logo for Air Canada. [3] Fernandez also created the painted trillium used on the Ontario Driver's License. [3]

Fernandez has done illustrations for children's book like Jeremiah Learns to Read, Picasso Soul On Fire, Anne of Green Gables , and The Magnificent Piano Recital. [8] [9] [10] [11] She has also produced work for Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, Richard Francis Burton, Bill Gates, Sr., David Thomson, and Christopher Ondaatje. [12]

Fernandez has won awards with Rick Jacobson, including the Toronto Art Director's Awards, Communication Arts Magazine's Award of Excellence, the Ruth Schwartz Award, [13] and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award gold medal for illustration from the Canadian Library Association for the Magnificent Piano Recital in 2001.

Music career

Fernandez started song writing when she was 12, writing in Spanish. She won the Soft Rock Award at the International Independent Music Festival in 2003. [3] [14] She released her first album, The Other Side, in 2003. [6] She hosted an open mic night from 2003 to 2008.

In 2008, Fernandez started as radio host for Cafe Latino on JazzFM91. [3] She released a Latin music album in 2010 called Un Solo Beso, which was produced by Billy Bryans. [4] In 2020 Laura Fernandez released a collection of 13 songs titled Okay, Alright, which she co-produced with Grammy award-winning producer and mastering engineer Peter J Moore. She continues to perform live. [5] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Fernandez is sponsored by Steinway & Sons. She is one of 19 Canadian musicians sponsored by Steinway. [14]

Real estate

Fernandez has been selling real estate since 2007. [3] She received the Diamond Award for Excellence in Real Estate. [19]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ondaatje</span> Canadian novelist and poet (born 1943)

Philip Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CJRT-FM</span> Jazz radio station in Toronto

CJRT-FM is a Canadian public radio station and charitable arts organization in Toronto, Ontario, known as JAZZ.FM91. The studios are on Pardee Avenue in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto. The station describes itself as Canada's only 24-hour all-jazz radio station, with evening and weekend specialty shows devoted to jazz-influenced R&B, blues, big band and Latin jazz. It has a professional staff of on-air hosts, with more than 90 volunteers assisting. It is listener-supported and holds periodic on-air fundraisers, seeking donations to support the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Garten</span>

Joel Garten is a pianist and improviser known for his innovative improvisations. His music is influenced by classical music and jazz, but mostly by modern composers such as Morton Feldman, jazz improviser Keith Jarrett and modern artists such as Jackson Pollock and Clyfford Still. Most of his piano works are entirely improvisational and reflect a remarkably personal connection to his music. His work is noted by critics as being deeply reflective and heartfelt. There are those who also draw comparisons to the music of Cecil Taylor. Joel Garten has created a number of innovative works for prepared piano using paint brushes and other hardware on the strings of the piano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariposa Folk Festival</span> Folk music festival

Mariposa Folk Festival is a Canadian music festival founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a few decades, it returned to Orillia in 2000. Ruth Jones, her husband Dr. Crawford Jones, brother David Major and Pete McGarvey organized the first Mariposa Folk Festival in August 1961. The inaugural event, covered by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, featured all Canadian performers. The festival grew in popularity, size and rowdiness until the popularity of the 1963 festival, and the lack of sufficient security, led to a backlash from town locals. The city of Orillia secured a court injunction to prevent the festival from continuing in the town limits. The first festival held in the Toronto area, in 1964, was at Maple Leaf Stadium. The subsequent three festivals were held at Innis Lake in Caledon, northwest of the city. In the 1970s it was held on the Toronto Islands before shifting to Harbourfront (Toronto) and Bathurst Street and later Molson Park in Barrie. In 2000, the Mariposa Folk Festival was invited back to Orillia by city councilors Tim Lauer and Don Evans. The festival continues to be held in Orillia. As well as folk music, the festival highlights other aspects of folk culture including dance, crafts, storytelling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Laredo</span> American classical pianist (1937–2005)

Ruth Laredo was an American classical pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Kaldor</span> Canadian folk singer-songwriter

Connie Isabelle Kaldor, is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. She is the recipient of three Juno awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marla Lukofsky</span> Canadian-American stand-up comedian (born July 3, 1956)

Marla Lukofsky is a Canadian-American stand-up comedian, actress, singer, writer, and keynote speaker. She's one of the pioneers of stand-up comedy in Canada and has performed in every major city in North America, the UK and the first female comedian to headline in Bermuda.

The Juno Awards of 1981, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 5 February 1981 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by multiple co-presenters at the O'Keefe Centre. The first co-hosts were Andrea Martin and John Candy of SCTV fame, then Frank Mills and Ginette Reno, and finally Ronnie Hawkins and Carroll Baker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kaeshammer</span> Canadian jazz and boogie-woogie pianist

Michael Kaeshammer is a Canadian jazz and boogie-woogie pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian blues</span>

Canadian blues is the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. Canadian blues artists include singers, players of the main blues instruments: guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass and drums, songwriters and music producers. In many cases, blues artists take on multiple roles. For example, the Canadian blues artist Steve Marriner is a singer, harmonica player, guitarist, songwriter and record producer.

William Taylor Bryans was a Canadian percussionist, songwriter, music producer and DJ, known as one of the founders of The Parachute Club, among other accomplishments in music. As a producer, he worked on projects for artists as diverse as Dutch Mason, Raffi, Lillian Allen and the Downchild Blues Band. He was born in Montreal, but spent most of his adult life in Toronto, and was particularly supportive of world music as both a promoter and publicist, focusing on bringing Caribbean, Cuban and Latin American music to a wider audience.

Danny Greenspoon is a Canadian music producer, music engineer, guitar player and film composer mainly in the Canadian music industry. Greenspoon is also the president of "The Audio Truck Inc.", a mobile recording studio recording materials for television, radio, and record. From 1989 to 1996, he was a recording producer for CBC Radio in Toronto producing recordings of jazz, popular music, folk music, country music and world music, for broadcast and commercial release, and from 2004 to 2016 he did most of the live recording for JazzFM91.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Jacobson</span> Canadian artist, illustrator, and childrens writer

Richard Allen "Rick" Jacobson is a Canadian artist, illustrator, and writer who uses the names Richard A. Jacobson and Rick Jacobson professionally.

<i>The Boy from the Sun</i> Childrens book

The Boy from the Sun is a 2006 children's book by Canadian author Duncan Weller. The second edition, a ten-year anniversary book was reprinted in 2016 with an additional 4 illustrations under the author's publishing company name Rogue Planet Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbra Lica</span> Canadian jazz singer

Barbra Lica is a Canadian jazz singer and songwriter based in Toronto. She was named one of Canada's top upcoming female jazz artists and was the first runner-up in the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition. Lica received her first Juno Award nomination in 2017 for I'm Still Learning under the category Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.

Jo Ellen Bogart is a US and Canadian writer of children's books living in Guelph, Ontario.

Allison Au is a Canadian jazz saxophonist. She has been nominated three times for the Juno Award for Best Jazz Album, her second album Forest Grove won the Juno for best group jazz album in 2016.

Karen Ng is a Canadian improvisational musician, teacher and event organizer based in Toronto, Ontario. Best known as a saxophonist, she is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed internationally with acts including Andy Shauf, Do Make Say Think and L CON. A former programmer and board member of Somewhere There, she is the co-founder of TONE Festival and joined the Guelph Jazz Festival in 2018 as the Assistant Artistic and General Director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caity Gyorgy</span> Canadian jazz singer

Caity Gyorgy is a Canadian jazz singer from Calgary, Alberta. She received the Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year in 2022 for her EP, Now Pronouncing: Caity Gyorgy, and in 2023 for her debut LP, Featuring.

References

  1. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]. Library and Archives Canada data at VIAF.org. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  2. ↑ . Library of Congress data at LCCN.loc.gov. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 REM Monthly article by Susan Duran "Life’s an adventure for multi-tasking Laura Fernandez", Laura Fernandez featured in REM Monthly.
  4. 1 2 CBC Billy Bryans Testimonial, Billy Bryans Testimonial.
  5. 1 2 Tandem Magazine Funny Girls and Divas fundraiser article Archived 2013-06-28 at archive.today , Laura Fernandez music produced by Billy Bryans.
  6. 1 2 Beach Metro Community News, Laura Fernandez bio in Beach Metro News.
  7. ↑ "About". Jacobson Fernandez Illustration. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  8. ↑ OaC announces Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine , Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson announced as Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners.
  9. ↑ Can Lit Awards recipients Archived 2013-06-28 at archive.today , The Magnificent Piano Recital illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson Can Lit Awards listing.
  10. ↑ Ann Stinner U of Manitoba CM Magazine review of Picassio Soul On Fire.
  11. ↑ Canadian Library Association literary awards list Archived 2012-09-22 at the Wayback Machine , Picasso Soul On Fire illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson shortlisted for the 2005 Amelia Francis Howard-Gibbon Award.
  12. ↑ Royal Geographical Society Picture Library online Archived 2015-09-03 at the Wayback Machine , Rick Jacobson and Laura Fernandez commission for Christopher Ondaatje's book 'Sindh Revisited' donated by C. Ondaatje.
  13. ↑ Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine , Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners.
  14. 1 2 3 Canadian World Music, Laura Fernandez Canadian World Music Festival List.
  15. ↑ Laura Fernandez as part of Hugh's Room Jazz Series, Singer's Jazz Series.
  16. ↑ The Scene Magazine announces 2013 Winter Folk lineup, Laura Fernandez showcase at the Winter Folk Festival.
  17. ↑ WinterFolk Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine , Laura Fernandez assisting WinterFolk.
  18. ↑ Good Life Magazine article Mississauga's Carlos Bastidas gathers Top Musicians for the G.T.A.'s Hottest New Music Festival by Cristina Kerr, Laura Fernandez one of the headliners at the Pan American Latin Jazz Festival.
  19. ↑ Nazareth, Errol (February 11, 2011). "Always on the go". Toronto Sun . p. 75.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.