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Beverly Sainte-Marie, CC, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, social activist, philanthropist, visual artist (born 20 February 1941 on Piapot Reserve, SK). Buffy Sainte-Marie is a pioneering and influential singer-songwriter. She specializes in love songs and music with a political and social-activist focus. She was an important figure in the Greenwich Village and Toronto folk music revivals in the 1960s, and is perhaps best known for her 1964 anti-war anthem “Universal Soldier.” It was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005. Sainte-Marie also won a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and an Academy Award for co-writing the hit song “Up Where We Belong.” She has received the Polaris Music Prize and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, as well as multiple Juno Awards, Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, lifetime achievement awards and honorary degrees. A Companion of the Order of Canada, she has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Amanda Meta Marshall. Singer, songwriter, b Toronto 29 Aug 1972. Marshall began performing at age 16 and was discovered two years later by Toronto guitarist Jeff Healey, whose drummer, Tom Stephen, eventually became her manager.

Avril Ramona Lavigne. Singer, songwriter, b Belleville, Ont, 27 Sept 1984. Lavigne began singing gospel music in church as a child, and then went on to belt out country songs at music festivals and talent contests before Arista Records discovered her.

Sarah Ann McLachlan. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, b Halifax, NS, 28 Jan 1968. The daughter of Judy James, McLachlan was raised by her adoptive parents Jack, an American-born marine biologist, and Dorice McLachlan; the family also included two older adopted brothers, Stewart and Ian.

k.d. (Kathryn Dawn) lang. Singer, songwriter, born Edmonton 2 Nov 1961; hon LLD (Alberta) 2008.

Anna Russell, comedienne, contralto, pianist (b at London 27 Dec 1911; d 18 Oct 2006 at Bateman's Bay, Australia). Born Ann Claudia Russell-Brown, her mother was a Canadian, her father a British officer.

André (Dédé) Fortin, author, singer, musician, performer (born November 17, 1962 in Saint-Thomas-Didyme in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Québec; died May 8, 2000 in Montréal).

​Amy Sky, singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, television host (born 24 Sep 1960 in Toronto, ON), B MUS (Toronto) 1982.

Plume (b Michel) Latraverse. Singer-songwriter, author, b Montreal 11 May 1946.

LUBA (b Luba Kowalchyk). Singer, songwriter, b Montreal, of Ukrainian parents, 1958.

Daniel Lavoie learned the piano from nuns when he was very young and continued his musical education at the Jesuit boarding school, Collège de St-Boniface, in St. Boniface, Manitoba.

​Ève Cournoyer, author, composer, interpreter and sound technician (born 15 May 1969 in QC; died 12 August 2012 in Montréal, QC).

Arthur Michaud, tenor, teacher (born 1892 in Northampton, Massachusettes; died 25 February 1942 in Hollywood, California).

Marie-Mai Bouchard, singer-songwriter, performer (born 7 July 1984 in Varennes, QC). With a musical mix of rock, electro and pop, coupled with a richly authentic voice and a versatile stage presence radiating energy and passion, Marie-Mai has captured a large audience. Winner of numerous Félix Awards, including several for Female Performer and Album of the Year, she has had three gold albums and two platinum albums in Canada, and has performed on some of the most important stages in the francophone world. She has also been recognized at the national level, winning SOCAN Awards for Most Performed Francophone Song in Québec and Songwriter of the Year.

Bruce Douglas Cockburn, OC, singer, songwriter, guitarist, activist (born 27 May 1945 in Ottawa, ON). Bruce Cockburn is one of Canada’s preeminent singer-songwriters, guitarists and social-justice activists. His music blends folk, rock, pop and jazz, and typically addresses spiritual themes and global issues from a politically charged perspective. He has had 17 albums certified gold in Canada and three certified platinum, and has sold more than seven million copies worldwide. The winner of 11 Juno Awards from 31 nominations, he has also received the inaugural Allan Waters Humanitarian Award and the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame. Recognized as “a latter-day wandering minstrel whose songs reflect the discontents of modern society,” he received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awardfor Lifetime Artistic Achievement, and was made a Member (1982) and Officer (2002) of the Order of Canada.

Andy Kim (born Andrew Youakim; also known as Baron Longfellow), songwriter, singer (born 5 December 1946 or 1952 in Montreal, QC). Andy Kim is one of Canada’s most successful singer-songwriters. He started out as a teenager writing songs for a television show and thus drew comparisons to Paul Anka and Neil Diamond. His hugely successfully pop hits — such as “Sugar, Sugar,” “Rock Me Gently,” “Baby I love You” and “How’d We Ever Get This Way” — have sold more than 30 million copies. He was the inaugural winner of the Juno Award for Top Male Vocalist in 1970 and enjoyed moderate success as Baron Longfellow in the 1980s and 1990s. Kim has been inducted into the Billboard Hit Parade Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (for “Sugar, Sugar”), Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Ariane Moffatt, singer, songwriter and producer (born 26 April 1979 in Saint Romuald, today Lévis, QC). Ariane Moffatt sets herself apart with her urban pop style songs, whose alternately acoustic and electronic sounds lend them an airy, dreamlike quality. The recipient of numerous Félix Awards, including Revelation of the Year in 2003, she also won a Juno Award in 2009 for her album Tous les sens. That album was well received in France, where the singer has built valuable friendships in the artistic community; it also earned her the Grand Prix of the Académie Charles Cros.

The Bach Elgar Choir (BEC) of Hamilton is a large concert choir established in 1946 as an amalgamation of the Elgar Choir (founded in 1905) and the Bach Choir (founded in 1931). The BEC is currently led by artistic director Alexander Cann.

André Jobin, tenor, actor, stage designer (born 20 January 1933 in Québec, QC). The son of tenor, Raoul Jobin, André began his artistic training in Paris, France. André had a successful career as a singer and actor, and he performed in operas and operettas throughout Europe and North America (see Opera Performance).

Alanis Nadine Morissette, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, activist (born 1 June 1974 in Ottawa, ON). Alanis Morissette is one of Canada’s most recognized and internationally acclaimed singer-songwriters. She established herself as a Juno-winning teen pop star in Canada before adopting an edgy alternative rock sound. She exploded onto the world stage with her record-breaking international debut, Jagged Little Pill (1995). It sold more than 16 million copies in the United States and 33 million worldwide. It is the highest-selling debut album by a female artist in the US and the best-selling debut album ever worldwide. It is also the best-selling album of the 1990s and the first album by a Canadian artist to sell more than two million copies in Canada. Described by Rolling Stone magazine as the “undisputed queen of alt-rock angst,” Morissette has won 13 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards. She has sold 60 million albums worldwide, including Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998), Under Rug Swept (2002) and Flavors of Entanglement (2008). Also an actor and activist, she is a member of the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.