Bill Brennan is Assistant Professor of Instrumental Conducting at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His expertise as a pianist, percussionist, composer and producer can be heard on some 100 albums to date. His album of 2006 Solo Piano received nominations for MusicNL and ECMA “Instrumental Album of the Year”. His album Solo Piano 2 won the MusicNL Instrumental album of the year in 2008. His newest CD with Andrea Koziol was released in 2019, entitled I’ll Be Seeing You. It garnered the MusicNL Jazz and Blues Award.
Brennan has been musical director for Tada’s productions of Chicago, White Christmas, Rocky Horror Show, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Rock of Ages and Disney in Concert. He was musical director and composer for Building Jerusalem, an award-winning play by Michael Redhill (Best new production, Dora Awards, 2000). He has also performed on film soundtracks for The Ice Storm (directed by Ang Lee) and Antwone Fisher (directed by Denzel Washington)
Brennan has recorded with the Juno-nominated Oliver Schroer, ambient-pop-rocker Andy Stochansky, guitarist Kevin Breit, film composer Mychael Danna, and with fellow Newfoundlanders Sandy Morris and Patrick Boyle. He has backed up such greats as Cab Calloway, Placido Domingo and Dizzy Gillespie.
Always in demand as a folk and jazz pianist, Brennan performs regularly with his own projects. He has performed across North America and around the world: Indonesia, Austria, Germany, France, Japan, Norway, the Czech Republic, England, Scotland, Portugal and Switzerland.
Over the past three decades, Brennan has been involved with some of the best-known organizations in Canadian culture. He has performed with the National Ballet and the Canadian Opera Company. He was musical director of CBC’s beloved Vinyl Café (hosted by Stuart MacLean), and a documentary composer for David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things. He has produced numerous albums, including recordings for Lady Cove Women’s Choir, Renee Marquis, Brad Jefford and Shelley Neville.
Nationally and internationally, his work has been formally recognized through a number of prestigious awards and commissions, including the Freddie Stone Memorial Award (1999). He has been commissioned to compose for contemporary music performers including flautist Ellen Waterman, and percussionists Romano DiNillo and Ed Squires. Several of these works have been premiered at the International Sound Symposium.
More than 30 years of relentless experience have garnered Brennan a solid reputation as a performer, composer and arranger of contemporary classical, jazz, folk and world music — always exploring, always open to new ideas, Brennan’s talents resist classification. Geoff Chapman of the Toronto Star says: “Brennan … is a central figure in this country’s music.”
Brennan was named the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council Artist of the Year for 2006. For many years he conducted the Memorial University Jazz Ensemble. He now directs the Memorial University’s Wind Ensemble and Gamelan Ensemble.
Billy Sutton is an award winning Multi-Instrumentalist/Producer/Recording Engineer from Hr. Grace, NL. He currently resides in St. John’s. His musical ability is evident in the impressive roster of musicians with whom he has worked. A member of the multi-award winning band The Fables, he also has toured, and recorded with such groups as Ron Hynes, ShanneyGanock, The Irish Descendants, The Ennis Sisters, The Matthew Byrne Band, Cordeen, Rum Ragged, and has recently been recruited to join one of Ireland’s most famous traditional bands, Danú.
Ben’s Ekman Spiral is an instrumental music project. Influenced by ambient music, Benjamin began his musical journey in France. His music features captivating riffs and explores various genres, ranging from post-rock to world music. His project aims to take listeners on a journey through contemplative and ethnic sounds, both gentle and aggressive.
Ben’s Ekman Spiral est un projet de musique instrumentale. Influencé par la musique ambiante, Benjamin commence son parcours musical en France. Sa musique présente des riffs captivants et explore divers genres, allant du post-rock aux musiques du monde. Son projet vise à amener les auditeurs dans un voyage à travers des sonorités contemplatives et ethniques, à la fois douces et agressives.
Knitting and Spinning: It starts on the farm where my husband and I raise Angora rabbits and I am inspired by the natural surroundings. Once the rabbits are sheared I spin the fibers mixing the angora with silk and wool to create various weights and textures. When I am designing a new wearable art piece I imagine the color and shape and draw from my existing palette or spin and dye yarn specific to the design. Depending on the desired look I dye the fibers while they are still in a raw format or after the skein has been spun. While I knit I control the color, texture, weight, and drape of each piece through a combination of knitted stitches and decorative applique. With each piece that I knit, I push myself to learn new techniques and manipulate color palettes that inherently make each piece unique
Behak is an arts administrator, baker, and community organizer in St. John’s. Originally from Tehran, Newfoundland has been her home for more than a decade. Behak is a founding member of the non-profit NL Iran Alliance, working to create cultural spaces for the Iranian community in St. John’s and beyond.
Beauxmont stands out for its ability to refresh the traditional Acadian repertoire while remaining true to its roots. Made up of six talented musicians from all over New Brunswick, the members of the group carry within them a rich baggage of musical traditions with the flavors of Louisiana. Powerfully handling voice, accordion, violin, guitars and drums, Beauxmont is quickly carving out a place for itself as the next generation of Acadian music with the success of its new album, Volume 2. The band will carry you away with contagious energy, punchy rhythms and unforgettable melodies to let the good times roll all night long. Band members: Felix Belliveau Chris Cormier Justin Doucet Patrick Dugas Jonathan Mpunge Jesse Mea
Beauxmont se distingue par sa capacité à rafraîchir le répertoire traditionnel acadien tout en restant fidèle à ses racines. Formé de six talentueux musiciens provenant des quatre coins du Nouveau-Brunswick, les membres du groupe portent en eux un riche bagage de traditions musicales aux saveurs de la Louisiane. Maniant avec force voix, accordéon, violon, guitares et batteries, Beauxmont se taille rapidement une place de choix en tant que relève de la musique acadienne avec le succès du nouvel album, Volume 2. La formation saura vous entraîner avec une énergie contagieuse, des rythmes percutants et des mélodies inoubliables pour laisser les bons temps rouler toute la soirée.
From his home base of St. John’s, NL, Baraka is a soulful singer/songwriter whose sound and spirit are sure to tug on the heartstrings of everyone who hears him sing. Originally hailing from the coastal city of Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania, Baraka has been performing and writing music since he was 14 years old. Drawing influences from artists such as Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, and Tracy Chapman, he has a natural talent for writing clever lyrics and infectious melodies.
Having already made several notable appearances on media networks at provincial and national level such as the EastLink Community TV, Rogers Out of The Fog, CBC NL, and CBC Radio One; together with opening for some of the province’s premier musicians in Janet Cull and Kellie Loder, Baraka’s magnetic presence and energy has seen him gain popularity and recognition in the community as a world class act. Baraka is currently putting the final touches on his debut 5-Track EP with producer Matt Dines. Funded by MusicNL, the EP is set to release this summer and is the first step in setting up Baraka as one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most promising emerging talents.
Stay in the loop by following Baraka at @BRKWAV on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok, or catch him performing at one of his residency stages in St. John’s at venues such as Sláinte, The Black Sheep, The Salt House, Greensleeves, TJ’s Patio, and The Rec Room.”
Balaklava Blues are folk-noir trench-fighters on the cultural front of Ukraine’s battle for democracy and freedom. Balaklava Blues experiments with Ukrainian polyphony and other folk traditions.They mix thousand year-old polyphonic traditions with personal stories and sounds of revolution and war and stunning visuals that blend folk motifs with contemporary expressions of power, vulnerability and trauma.
Timely and emotional, their multimedia live show builds empathy and understanding when we need it most and speaks to universal themes of identity crisis, displacement and oppression through deeply personal and specific Ukrainian experiences and music.
Bageshree Vaze is an Indo-Canadian dance artist, musician and writer. She is Artistic Director of Pratibha Arts, an organization that enhances the cultural fabric of Ontario through dance and music productions that often have influences from South Asian cultures. Bageshree is an award-winning Kathak dance artist (winner of the 2010 K.M. Hunter Award in Dance) and as a vocalist she has 5 CDs/albums to her credit. In 2004 she was named an MTV India ‘Ubbarta sitara’ (rising star) and her work has been presented in major festivals around the world including the Canada Dance Festival. In 2022 Bageshree was the inaugural Dance Collection Danse Artist Researcher-in-Residence and received the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Sound Composition (Dance Division).
