Latest news with #MasseyHall
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Polaris Music Prize 2025 Short List Includes Albums by Mustafa, Nemahsis, Saya Gray & More
The Polaris Music Prize has unveiled the 10 albums on this year's short list. The list was voted on by a large pool of music critics, journalists and curators, to find the best Canadian album of the year based solely on artistic merit. The $30,000 winner will be chosen by an 11-member grand jury and revealed at the Polaris concert and award ceremony at Massey Hall on Sept. 16. That ceremony will also reveal the winner of the brand new SOCAN Polaris Song Prize as well as the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize winners. More from Billboard Hot 100 First-Timers: Mustafa Scores First Chart Hit With Metro Boomin Collab 'Walk Em Down' Billboard, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson & More Nominated for 2025 Daytime Emmys Rob Thomas Talks Moving Labels After 30 Years on Atlantic: 'Universal Saved the Day' Here is this year's short list: Bibi Club – Feu de garde [Performing] Lou-Adriane Cassidy – Journal d'un Loup-Garou [Performing] Marie Davidson – City Of Clowns [Performing] Saya Gray – SAYA [Performing] Yves Jarvis – All Cylinders [Performing] Mustafa – Dunya Nemahsis – Verbathim [Performing] The OBGMs – SORRY, IT'S OVER [Performing] Population II – Maintenant Jamais [Performing] Ribbon Skirt – Bite Down [Performing] Three previous shortlisters are nominated again: Marie Davidson (2019), Mustafa (2021) and The OBGMs (2021). Last year saw the first repeat winner, with Jeremy Dutcher winning for his album Motewolonuwok. All of the shortlisted artists except Mustafa are confirmed to perform, and former winner Haviah Mighty will host. Tickets are on sale now. Polaris is offering 15% off tickets with the code POLARIS15. This article was originally published by Billboard Canada. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Globe and Mail
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Polaris Music Prize shortlist includes Mustafa, Nemahsis
Contemporary folk-poet Mustafa and alt-pop singer Nemahsis are among the 10 acts shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, which carries a slimmed-down cash reward this year. Organizers say the best Canadian album winner will receive $30,000, down from $50,000. Executive director Amber Still said the organization received less money from some of its sponsors this year. With new album, Mustafa tackles rage and forgiveness. Just don't call it therapeutic Other shortlisted artists include electronic experimentalist Marie Davidson, punk outfit the OBGMs and psychedelic rockers Population II. The winner will be announced at a gala at Toronto's Massey Hall on Sept. 16, when the $10,000 Polaris Song Prize will also be handed out for the first time. This year's contenders also include folk-soul performer Saya Gray and French-Canadian singer Lou-Adriane Cassidy. Rounding out the list is pop pair Bibi Club, Calgary-raised Yves Jarvis and Anishinaabe-led duo Ribbon Skirt.
CBC
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Louise Penny in conversation with Mattea Roach at a live Toronto event this fall
Social Sharing Mattea Roach will be hosting an evening in conversation with bestselling Canadian author Louise Penny on Nov. 28 at Massey Hall in Toronto. It will be broadcast on a future episode of Bookends with Mattea Roach and CBC's Live at Massey Hall series on CBC Gem and YouTube. Quebec writer Penny will answer Roach's questions in an on-stage interview and celebrate the Oct. 28 release of her latest Chief Inspector Gamache novel, The Black Wolf. The Black Wolf is the 20th mystery in the Inspector Gamache series and follows the investigations of the head of the homicide department of the Sûreté du Québec. In this latest adventure, Gamache and his team uncover and prevent a domestic terrorist attack in Montréal, arresting a man known as the Black Wolf. But the arrest only uncovers a deeper conspiracy, most notably a sinister plot to make Canada the 51st state of the United States. "When I wrote The Black Wolf, I worried I'd gone too far. I no longer have that fear," Penny said in a statement. Penny is a celebrated writer best known for her mystery series following Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. The book series includes The Grey Wolf, Still Life, Bury Your Dead, A Trick of the Light and A World of Curiosities. It has sold more than four million copies worldwide. In 2022, the series was adapted into an Amazon Original eight-episode series called Three Pines. Penny won the 2020 Agatha Award for best contemporary novel for the 16th book in the series, All the Devils Are Here. In 2013, she was named to the Order of Canada. "I'm beyond excited to chat with Penny as she celebrates the release of the 20th novel in her Inspector Gamache series," said Roach. "She is not only a talented writer, but also an amazing advocate for Quebec and Canada, and her love for her home in the Eastern Townships is evident in all her work." "I'm also so honoured to be bringing Bookends to the iconic Massey Hall for this live show. Massey has been the site of some of my fondest concert-going memories and getting to take the stage there myself feels like a great gift."
Hamilton Spectator
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Pianist Robi Botos on Oscar Peterson's enduring legacy as centennial tour continues
OSAKA - Growing up in Budapest, Robi Botos and his father, who was a jazz enthusiast, bonded over Oscar Peterson's music, which he says they discovered through the contraband of the few albums that made it past the ban on jazz music under Soviet control of Hungary. 'He had such a personality in his music and he had so much to offer,' said Botos, the pianist in the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet, which this year is honouring the jazz legend with performances in Canada and abroad, 100 years after he was born. 'But there was also this ability to really connect with people. And if you go to the smallest village, when we talk about jazz piano, they all know who Oscar is and they're going to call him the greatest.' Upcoming shows on the tour include a celebration at Toronto's Massey Hall on Saturday, summer jazz festivals in Rochester, N.Y. and Montreal, and more than two dozen others through to the end of the year. A standout for the quartet – which includes Winnipeg-bred bassist Mike Downes, Montreal-born drummer Jim Doxas and Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius, who played with Peterson's quartet before he died – was last Friday's performance in Osaka with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, says Botos, who immigrated to Toronto age 20. At home and abroad, Oscar Peterson's legacy lives on. Peterson's appearances between 1953 and 1983 in Japan helped cultivate an enthusiastic fan base. His first appearance in the country was with the 'Jazz at the Philharmonic' concert series and he made Tokyo a frequent stop in his touring circuit, even recording the famous 'Return to Happiness' live album there in 1983. Channeling the music of a legendary pianist is a tall order, one that's made more challenging by Botos' creative impulse to insert his own artistry into Peterson's music. Botos says it helps that he got some advice on the matter from Peterson himself. The two met after Botos won first place in the 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival's solo piano competition. The prize included opening for one of the following year's headliners, who turned out to be Peterson. 'I don't think he ever had opening acts, let alone a young pianist. But he was really beautiful and came and listened to me and his words were beautiful. He kind of gave me the green light to do my thing.' Botos later became a mentee of Peterson's and has since built his own reputation as a stalwart of Canadian jazz, winning the TD Grand Jazz Award at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and a Juno Award for Best Jazz Album of the Year in 2016. Botos and his band managed to find their own footing throughout the concert in Osaka alongside a slimmed down orchestra that focused on the brass section. The highlight was Peterson's 'Hymn to Freedom,' a 1962 composition embraced as a musical symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. The version of 'Hymn' performed for this concert was arranged by Downes and orchestrated by Montreal-based composer Chris LaRosa. For the vocal component, the orchestra and quartet were joined by members of Sistema New Brunswick, El Sistema Japan's Tokyo Children's Ensemble and Ottawa's OrKidstra Music Ensemble, all of which provide children from equity-deserving communities the opportunity to create music together. In this 'Hymn,' Nelson McDougall hears proof that Peterson's oeuvre rises above genre, and even above music. 'He was able to communicate, to engage, to connect with audiences around the world,' said McDougall, managing director of NACO. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2025. Michael Zarathus-Cook is a Toronto-based freelance writer, the chief editor of 'Cannopy Magazine,' and a medical student at the University of Toronto. The National Arts Centre sponsored his trip to Japan.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pianist Robi Botos on Oscar Peterson's enduring legacy as centennial tour continues
OSAKA – Growing up in Budapest, Robi Botos and his father, who was a jazz enthusiast, bonded over Oscar Peterson's music, which he says they discovered through the contraband of the few albums that made it past the ban on jazz music under Soviet control of Hungary. 'He had such a personality in his music and he had so much to offer,' said Botos, the pianist in the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet, which this year is honouring the jazz legend with performances in Canada and abroad, 100 years after he was born. 'But there was also this ability to really connect with people. And if you go to the smallest village, when we talk about jazz piano, they all know who Oscar is and they're going to call him the greatest.' Upcoming shows on the tour include a celebration at Toronto's Massey Hall on Saturday, summer jazz festivals in Rochester, N.Y. and Montreal, and more than two dozen others through to the end of the year. A standout for the quartet – which includes Winnipeg-bred bassist Mike Downes, Montreal-born drummer Jim Doxas and Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius, who played with Peterson's quartet before he died – was last Friday's performance in Osaka with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, says Botos, who immigrated to Toronto age 20. At home and abroad, Oscar Peterson's legacy lives on. Peterson's appearances between 1953 and 1983 in Japan helped cultivate an enthusiastic fan base. His first appearance in the country was with the 'Jazz at the Philharmonic' concert series and he made Tokyo a frequent stop in his touring circuit, even recording the famous 'Return to Happiness' live album there in 1983. Channeling the music of a legendary pianist is a tall order, one that's made more challenging by Botos' creative impulse to insert his own artistry into Peterson's music. Botos says it helps that he got some advice on the matter from Peterson himself. The two met after Botos won first place in the 2004 Montreux Jazz Festival's solo piano competition. The prize included opening for one of the following year's headliners, who turned out to be Peterson. 'I don't think he ever had opening acts, let alone a young pianist. But he was really beautiful and came and listened to me and his words were beautiful. He kind of gave me the green light to do my thing.' Botos later became a mentee of Peterson's and has since built his own reputation as a stalwart of Canadian jazz, winning the TD Grand Jazz Award at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and a Juno Award for Best Jazz Album of the Year in 2016. Botos and his band managed to find their own footing throughout the concert in Osaka alongside a slimmed down orchestra that focused on the brass section. The highlight was Peterson's 'Hymn to Freedom,' a 1962 composition embraced as a musical symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. The version of 'Hymn' performed for this concert was arranged by Downes and orchestrated by Montreal-based composer Chris LaRosa. For the vocal component, the orchestra and quartet were joined by members of Sistema New Brunswick, El Sistema Japan's Tokyo Children's Ensemble and Ottawa's OrKidstra Music Ensemble, all of which provide children from equity-deserving communities the opportunity to create music together. In this 'Hymn,' Nelson McDougall hears proof that Peterson's oeuvre rises above genre, and even above music. 'He was able to communicate, to engage, to connect with audiences around the world,' said McDougall, managing director of NACO. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2025. Michael Zarathus-Cook is a Toronto-based freelance writer, the chief editor of 'Cannopy Magazine,' and a medical student at the University of Toronto. The National Arts Centre sponsored his trip to Japan.
