Okavango African Orchestra is a Canadian musical group from Toronto, Ontario, which won the Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2017 for its self-titled debut album. [1] It aims to celebrate and promote the diversity of African music, by recording and performing music in many different African styles and incorporating many of Africa's unique musical instruments. [2]
It formed in 2010 through the Batuki Music Society, a Toronto-based organization which promotes traditional African arts and music in the city. [2] The original members were Daniel Nebiat on krar, Sadio Sissokho on kora, Waleed Abdulhamid on gimbri, Nuudi Kooshin on kaban, Pasipamire Gunguwo on mbira, Donné Robert on guitar and Walter MacLean on percussion. [2] The lineup as of 2018 includes Nebiat, Sissokho, Robert, Ebenezer Agyekum, Kofi Ackah, Nicolas Simbananiye and Tichaona Maredza. [3]
The Juno Awards, or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry. The first Juno Awards ceremony was held on February 23, 1970 to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1969. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame are also inducted as part of the awards ceremonies.
Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reached mainstream success in Canada when their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles "If I Had $1000000" and "Brian Wilson", was released in 1992. The band's popularity subsequently spread into the US, beginning with versions of "Brian Wilson" and "The Old Apartment" off their 1996 live album Rock Spectacle, followed by their fourth studio album Stunt, their breakout success in 1998. The album featured their highest-charting hit, "One Week", as well as "It's All Been Done" and "Call and Answer". Their fifth album, Maroon, featuring the lead single "Pinch Me", also charted highly. In the 2010s the band became well-known for creating the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Bruce Douglas Cockburn is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, politics, and Christianity.
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as the Hip, were a Canadian rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984, consisting of vocalist Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay. They released 13 studio albums, one live album, one EP, and over 50 singles over a 33-year career. Nine of their albums have reached No. 1 on the Canadian charts. They have received numerous Canadian music awards, including 17 Juno Awards. Between 1996 and 2016, the Tragically Hip were the best-selling Canadian band in Canada and the fourth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada.
Sam Roberts is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has released seven albums. His debut EP The Inhuman Condition, reached the Canadian charts in 2002. He and his bandmates have released three albums as Sam Roberts and four albums as Sam Roberts Band. He is also a member of Canadian supergroup Anyway Gang, who released their debut self-titled album in 2019. Roberts has been nominated, together with his band, for fifteen Juno Awards, winning six, including Artist of the Year twice and Album of the Year once (2004).
Deborah Cox is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before becoming a professional backing vocalist for Celine Dion. In 1994, Cox relocated to the United States and was signed to Arista Records by Clive Davis, releasing her self-titled debut album the following year. Her second studio album, One Wish (1998), was certified platinum in the United States. It was marked by the commercial success of the pop crossover single "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", which would become her most successful entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number two and remaining there for eight consecutive weeks. Cox signed with J Records for her third studio album The Morning After (2002), which saw moderate commercial success.
The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra is a Canadian Baroque orchestra specializing in early music and based in Toronto. They often perform with choir and play period instruments.
Measha Brueggergosman is a Canadian soprano who performs both as an opera singer and concert artist. She has performed internationally and won numerous awards. Her recordings of both classical and popular music have also received awards.
Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy winning Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with Adele, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Michael Bublé, The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Ryan Tedder, Dua Lipa, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Jazmine Sullivan, Rufus Wainwright, Taylor Swift, Missy Elliot, Weezer, Katy Perry, OneRepublic, Jake Wesley Rogers, "San Quentin Mixtapes, Vol. 1" with David Jassy, Pharrell Williams, Carrie Underwood, Deftones, Jamie Cullum, Pink, Theophilus London, Keith Urban, Crash Test Dummies, Celine Dion, MIKA, Twenty One Pilots, Aerosmith, as well as Sir George Martin, Quincy Jones, Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Stephen Schwartz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and the Count Basie Orchestra.
Serouj Kradjian is a Grammy-nominated and Juno-winning Armenian-Canadian pianist and composer.
Alexis Puentes, better known by his stage name Alex Cuba, is a Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter who sings in Spanish and English. He has won two Juno Awards for World Music Album of the Year: in 2006 for Humo de Tabaco, and in 2008 for his second album, Agua del Pozo. In 2010 he won the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist. His 2015 album, Healer, earned him a Latin Grammy Award for Best Singer-Songwriter Album and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Latin Pop Album. His 2021 album Mendó won the 2022 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album.
Jan Lisiecki is a Canadian-born classical pianist of Polish ancestry. Lisiecki performs over a hundred concerts annually and has worked closely with the world's leading orchestras and conductors, his career at the top of the international concert scene spanning over a decade. He has been a recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon since the age of fifteen.
Kati Ilona Agócs is an American-Canadian composer and a member of the composition faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
Barbara Hannigan is a Canadian soprano and conductor, known for her performances of contemporary opera.
Larysa Kuzmenko is a Juno Awards-nominated Canadian composer and pianist based in Toronto, Ontario. She currently teaches on the music faculties of The Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto.
Sultans of String are an instrumental music group based in Toronto, Ontario, combining elements of Spanish flamenco, Arabic folk, Cuban rhythms, and French Manouche Gypsy-jazz. The group's leader is producer and Canadian musician Chris McKhool.
Chris McKhool is a Canadian violinist, producer, guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter. He has received numerous awards for his work, including four JUNO Award nominations and four Canadian Folk Music Awards for his various recordings.
Kobo Town is a Juno-winning Canadian Caribbean music group, led by Trinidadian Canadian singer and songwriter Drew Gonsalves. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the band blends calypso music with a diverse mix of Caribbean and other musical influences, including ska, reggae, dub, rapso, zouk and hip hop.
Blake Pouliot is a Canadian-born professional classical violinist. He studied at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and the Colburn School in Los Angeles. His debut CD was nominated for a 2019 Canadian Classical Music Juno Award and he is currently represented worldwide by Opus 3 Artists in New York City. Pouliot is known for his brilliant artistry and somewhat outlandish concert clothing. Pouliot is currently Orchestre Métropolitain's Soloist-in-Residence under the guidance of musical director and Principal Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Zal Sissokho is a Senegalese-Canadian musician based in Montreal, Quebec. He is most noted for his 2020 album Kora Flamenca, an exploration of the fusion of African kora with Spanish flamenco which won the Félix Award for World Music Album of the Year at the 42nd Félix Awards. The album has also been shortlisted for the Juno Award for World Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021, and won the Canadian Folk Music Award for World Music Album of the Year at the 16th Canadian Folk Music Awards.