Browse "Musicians"
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George Brough
George Brough, pianist, organist, harpsichordist, opera coach (born 25 February 1918 in Boston, Lincolnshire, England; died 15 September 2015 in Toronto, ON). George Brough was widely recognized as one of Canada's most skilful, reliable and versatile accompanists. Able to sight-read with tremendous proficiency, he provided secure support for hundreds of performers, from students in competitions to professional artists such as Heinz Holliger, Gervase de Peyer, Henri Temianka, Bernard Turgeon and Jon Vickers. He was an assistant conductor and accompanist with the Canadian Opera Company, an organist with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and taught at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the University of Toronto.
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Gil Evans
Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green), jazz musician, composer, arranger, bandleader (born 13 May 1912 in Toronto, ON; died 20 March 1988 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.) Known as the “prince of swing,” Gil Evans is widely regarded as one of the greatest orchestrators and arrangers in jazz history. He is best known for incorporating unconventional instrumentation (initially French horn, tuba and flute, and later electric instruments) into a big band format, and for his influential collaborations with Miles Davis. Evans was also a central figure in the development of cool jazz, free jazz and jazz fusion. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship, won multiple Grammy Awards and was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
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Guido Basso
Guido Basso, CM, flugelhornist, trumpeter, arranger, composer, conductor, harmonica player (born 27 September 1937 in Montreal, QC; died 13 February 2023 in Toronto). One of Canada’s pre-eminent jazz trumpeters, Guido Basso was also known for the lyricism of his flugelhorn work. He was credited with the theory that one attacks the trumpet and makes love to a flugelhorn. Basso appeared on some 30 recordings by the Boss Brass, and on albums by Anne Murray, Ian Tyson, Holly Cole, Lenny Solomon, Oliver Jones and others. Basso’s Lost in the Stars won the 2004 Juno Award for Traditional Jazz Album of the Year. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1994.
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Haviah Mighty
Haviah Mighty, rapper, musician, songwriter, producer (born 18 December 1992 in Toronto, ON). Haviah Mighty is one of Canada’s best young rappers. She is known for the intensity of her performances, her politically charged lyrics and for addressing issues of systemic injustice. Her first studio album 13th Floor (2019) won the Polaris Music Prize, making Mighty the first Black woman and first rapper to win the prize. She also became the first woman to win the Juno Award for Rap Album of the Year when her mixtape Stock Exchange (2021) won in 2022.
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Ian Tyson
Ian Dawson Tyson, CM, AOE, singer, songwriter, guitarist, rancher (born 25 September 1933 in Victoria, BC; died 29 December 2022 in Longview, AB). Ian Tyson was one of Canada’s most acclaimed folk and country music artists. A former rodeo rider, he enjoyed great success as part of the duo Ian and Sylvia with his then-wife, Sylvia Tyson. They are best known for “Four Strong Winds,” a 1963 folk anthem written by Ian. It is considered one of the best and most influential Canadian songs of all time. Tyson received many awards, including a Governor General's Performing Arts Award. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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List
Influential Indigenous Musicians in Canada
Music entertains and soothes, but it can also educate and challenge. These talented artists are among many popular Indigenous musicians in Canada. Their work celebrates Indigenous cultures and shines a light on important issues concerning Indigenous people in Canada.
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Jacques Michel
Jacques Rodrigue (a.k.a. Jacques Michel), CQ, singer-songwriter (born 27 June 1941 in Ste-Agnès-de-Bellecombe (near Rouyn), QC; died 5 March 2026). In language that can be tender or violent, Jacques Michel's songs evoke love, friendship, freedom, life, and childhood. In 2007 he was made Chevalier of the National Order of Québec (Ordre national du Québec), and in 2020 he was awarded the Sylvain-Lelièvre Award from the Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Québec (SPACQ) for lifetime achievement.
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Jean-Pierre Ferland
Jean-Pierre Ferland, singer, songwriter, television host, actor (born 24 June 1934 in Montreal; died 27 April 2024). Jean-Pierre Ferland was recognized as one of the greatest chansonniers in Quebec and the entire French-speaking world. A romantic singer par excellence, he started with the Les Bozos in 1959. He broke out in 1962, winning first prize in a Francophonie contest with “Feuille de gui.” In 1968, he won the Grand prix de l’Académie Charles-Cros for “Je reviens chez nous.” “Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin” became a francophone anthem and received SOCAN’s Cultural Impact Award in 2023. Ferland was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec, an Officier of the Ordre de la Pléiade and a Compagnon of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec. He and five of his signature songs were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.
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Jian Ghomeshi
Jian Ghomeshi, singer, songwriter, musician, broadcaster, writer, manager (born 9 June 1967 in London, England). Jian Ghomeshi was a member of the quirky, alternative pop-folk group Moxy Früvous from 1990 to 2001. He parlayed that recognition into a radio and television career with the CBC, hosting such entertainment talk shows as >play, The National Playlist and Q. He wrote a best-selling memoir, 1982 (2012), about growing up as an Iranian Canadian in Thornhill, Ontario, and stayed active in the music business as an artist manager. His career and national profile unravelled in the fall of 2014 when he was fired by the CBC and charged with sexual assault in incidents involving several women (see Jian Ghomeshi Case).
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John Sopinka
John Sopinka, Supreme Court justice, lawyer, social advocate, author, football player, violinist (born 19 March 1933 in Broderick, SK; died 24 November 1997 in Ottawa, ON). John Sopinka played in the Canadian Football League while studying law at the University of Toronto. As a prominent litigation attorney, he represented Ukrainian Canadians in national and international commissions and handled other influential cases. In 1988, he became the first Ukrainian Canadian appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
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Karl Tremblay
Karl Tremblay, singer, songwriter, video game developer (born 28 October 1976 in Montreal, QC; died 15 November 2023 in Terrebonne, QC). Karl Tremblay was best known as the lead singer of the country- folk rock group Les Cowboys Fringants — widely considered the most influential and popular Quebec rock band of the 21st century. The band has sold more than 1.3 million albums and won 19 Félix Awards, including six for Group of the Year (2003, 2004, 2011, 2020, 2021, 2023), three each for Alternative Album (2002, 2003, 2005) and Rock Album (2012, 2016, 2020), and one for Best-Selling Album of the Year (2020). Tremblay’s untimely death from cancer in 2023 at the age of 47 was mourned as a national tragedy in Quebec, similar to the reaction to the death of the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie in English Canada.
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Lawrence Cluderay
Lawrence Rusby Cluderay, organist, choir conductor, music critic (born 1 December 1907 in Leeds, England; died 15 June 1992 in Kelowna, BC). FRCO, ARCM.
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Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, CC, GOQ, poet, novelist, singer, songwriter (born 21 September 1934 in Montreal, QC; died 7 November 2016 in Los Angeles, California). Leonard Cohen was one of the most iconic Canadian artists of the 20th century. A sage, mystic, bohemian and romantic, he built an acclaimed body of literary work and a revered career in pop music. In his poetry, novels and music, he constantly probed the human condition, exploring themes of love, loss, death and his commitment to his art. As a poetic and unlikely pop star, his narrow-ranged, gruff voice, which deepened and darkened with age, and his reliance on simple, singsong melodies were complimented by the intense imagery and depth of his lyrics. A Companion of the Order of Canada, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, the US Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Folk Music Walk of Fame. He also received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, the Glenn Gould Prize, eight Juno Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and numerous other honours.
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Marc Djokic
Marc Djokic, musician, violinist (born 29 July 1982 in Halifax, NS). Marc Djokic is one of Canada’s most accomplished violinists. Primarily a chamber musician, he has also performed as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. He has played alongside such classical musicians as Beverley Johnston, James Ehnes, Jamie Parker and Measha Brueggergosman. Djokic received the prestigious Prix Goyer in 2017 and was named the concertmaster of the Orchestre classique de Montréal in 2018. He is the son of violinist Philippe Djokic and the brother of cellist Denise Djokic.
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Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur. Bass guitarist, singer, songwriter, photographer, b Montreal 17 Mar 1972. Melissa Auf der Maur is the daughter of Montreal journalist Nick Auf der Maur and former Montreal rock radio disc jockey Linda Gaboriau.
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