Pop

 A dynamic Queen Tribute band hailing from the heart of Ontario, Canada. With a passion for capturing the legendary energy and vocals of Freddy Mercury and the iconic sound of Queen, this talented combo brings the magic of classic hits to the stage. 

From “Bohemian Rhapsody” to “We Will Rock you”... (and they will rock you!) 

Scaramouche delivers an unforgettable experience, celebrating the timeless music of Queen. 

THIS EVENT IS PART OF AEOLIAN JAZZ & MUSICAL ARTS FESTIVAL 2024! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!

Alex Cuba is a Grammy and Juno winning; singer, songwriter, producer and musician. Born Alexis Puentes in Artemisa, Cuba and now living in Smithers, BC, Canada. His first musical memory was playing claves (a Cuban rhythm instrument) at the age of 4 alongside his father on national TV, and went on to study guitar, then electric and upright bass, touring and recording nationally and internationally, before moving to Canada in 1999. His sound is the unique confluence of tradition and global influences in articulate arrangements, conveying emotions through melody and lyric. In 2022, he won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop for “Mendó” as producer, artist and engineer, his proudest accomplishment of the 20+ awards and nominations he has received as an independent artist over 9 albums.

His musical evolution for years was all about searching for the simplicity and soul in Cubanmusic – taking apart the complex arrangements, mixing it with North American influences,adopting the melodic simplicity of pop music, looking to Cuban folk traditions for inspiration –he’s always exploring, always creating something fresh and new, and always, it seems, getting itjust right.

“I always believed, from the beginning of my career in Canada, that if music is beautiful, itwill cross the language. Because we are all humans.” Alex Cuba

Don Ross has just released new solo album, WATER. It is his 18th solo album, and his 21st including collaborations. For this new recording, Don decided to launch a Kickstarter fundraising campaign and do the release 100% independently. He managed to raise his financial goal in 28 hours, and was able to make many musical concepts come true as a result. The album features collaborations with legendary guitarist/songwriter Bruce Cockburn, fretless bass wizard Michael Manring, Washington State-based guitarist/composer Sean Hall, singer/guitarist Brooke Miller, Prince Edward Island-based quintet The Atlantic String Machine, and even one piece with the 70-piece City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The album features cover art by luminary Mi’kmaw visual artist Alan Syliboy of Millbrook First Nation in Nova Scotia.
Don Ross was born and raised in Montreal and has lived in various parts of Canada over the course of his life. The son of a Mi’kmaw Indigenous mother and a Scottish immigrant father, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music) degree from Toronto’s York University and started working full-time as a musician in 1988. That year he won the US National Fingerpick Guitar Championshipfor the first time, and also played with his quartet Eye Music at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Signing a solo recording contract with Duke Street Records that same year, he went on to release two CDs of solo guitar music for the label in 1989 and 1990, as well as a third CD for the label featuring vocal music, full band arrangements, and solo guitar tunes in 1993.

Concentrating his touring primarily in Canada at the start of his career, Don went on to sign with Sony Music/Columbia Records(Canada) in 1994, releasing three CDs for the label. US-based Narada Records also licensed two pieces for the Masters of Acoustic Guitar CD in 1997. Meanwhile, Don won the US National Fingerpick Guitar Championship for the second time in 1996. To this day, he is still the competition’s only two-time winner. Don began touring more internationally at this point in his career, concentrating especially on Germany and other central European countries.

Jordan Hart is a Gold-certified producer/singer-songwriter living in Toronto, Canada. His sound is often categorized as Contemporary/Roots with influences of Soul. Featured on YouTube performance platforms Mahogany and Alex Rainbird’s ‘Best of Folk’ series, as well as on Canadian mainstream television channels CTV, ETalk, Breakfast TV and Entertainment Tonight, Hart’s critically acclaimed debut EP ‘Only Pieces of the Truth’ struck a chord amongst tastemakers, and now has over 15 million streams across platforms. The emotive cinematic soundscapes of his EP made their way from studio to screen as his single “Whole” was featured on Grey’s Anatomy and single “Freedom” featured on award-winning animated short, ‘Free Bird,’ which doubles as the song’s music video.

While Hart's success during the pandemic was centered around his recorded music, his live performance is what he has come to be known for. In 2018 Hart completed a 100 – Day Busking Challenge in which he played on streetcorners across Canada, often garnering audiences in the hundreds of unexpecting passers-by. While Hart is now a veteran headliner and is selling out shows across the country, you can still find him playing outside on the odd summer day where he first fell in love with performing music.

Beyond his work as a solo artist, Hart is gaining an impressive track record as a producer and composer for other artists, working with the likes of Bulow, Kiesza, Lucky Rose, and Lonely in the Rain to name a few. While he continues to compose and produce for other artists, he has just begun working on his first full length album which is scheduled to be released in early 2023.

Daniel Champagne lives and breathes live music. The Australian virtuoso has been described as “the finest guitar player of this generation”, “a leading light in acoustic music” and “a performer that must be seen to be believed” and from March to June 2024, music lovers across Canada will be treated to an intimate live experience not to be missed!

Growing up in the Bega Valley, on the Far South Coast of New South Wales Australia, the story goes that the young singer-songwriter and one of a kind guitar virtuoso first picked up his instrument of choice as a 5-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing wherever he could, honing his craft and developing the dynamite live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he finished school, turned professional and hit the road without looking back.

The following 15 years have seen him independently release 7 studio albums, tour relentlessly around the globe, play some of the biggest festivals under the sun and share stages with the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, INXS, John Butler, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Judy Collins and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Playing upwards of 250 shows a year, Daniel is passionate about spreading live music around the world and on the back of a sold out 2022 tour tour, his return trip will include 56 shows from Vancouver Island all the way out to Newfoundland! 

WHAT THE PRESS SAY..

“The word Prodigy seems to entirely fall short of this soft-spoken young man’s skills, he coaxes sounds and melodies out of his instrument that literally drop jaws.” The Calgary Herald, CANADA

“Today I saw the future of Folk – Festival goers flocking in the thousands towards the main stage to witness a young musical phenomenon from Australia dish out an absolute show-stopper.” The Firefly Column, USA

“Daniel Champagne is a crossroads. Fusing the strong traditions of Blues, Folk and other roots art with pop showmanship and admirable lyrical ability. I firmly believe that he will become an ambassador for roots music in a time where it desperately needs representation.” The Indie Blender, CANADA

“reinventing roots guitar” Rhythms Magazine, AUSTRALIA

“Watching Daniel Champagne perform is a once in a lifetime experience. He is a true prodigy that plays like no one else could possibly play unless they spent at least two lifetimes studying the art.” BW Review, NEW ZEALAND

“Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne is just magical” Themusic.com.au, AUSTRALIA

"You feel as if he just invented the instrument yesterday and was discovering its possibilities afresh” Ted Gioia (American jazz critic and music historian)

Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist and CBC Music national radio host Laila Biali has headlined festivals and venues spanning five continents from New York City’s Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, and supported international icon Sting. In 2020, Laila was honoured by SOCAN Music with the Hagood Hardy Award for Excellence in Songwriting. In 2019, Laila’s eponymous release won her a JUNO (Canada’s GRAMMY) for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.” The year prior, she was awarded top prize at the Canadian Songwriting Competition in the Jazz category. Laila was also the youngest-ever double winner at Canada’s National Jazz Awards when she was named “SOCAN Composer of the Year” and “Keyboardist of the Year.” She received her first JUNO nomination for Tracing Light (2011), and a spot on DownBeat Magazine’s “Best Albums of the Year” for Live in Concert (2013) and Out of Dust (2020). In September of 2017, Laila was brought on as the host for CBC Music’s national radio show, Saturday Night Jazz, a weekly show broadcast to listeners across Canada. While Laila continues to earn high honours in the Jazz world, her signature sound transcends genre as she “masterfully mixes jazz and pop, bringing virtuosity and unpredictability to songs that are concise and catchy” (Washington Post). Laila’s highly anticipated album, Out of Dust, which features multiple GRAMMY nominees and winners including Lisa Fischer, Alan Ferber, John Ellis, and Larnell Lewis, released March 27, 2020 and was also nominated for a 2021 JUNO Award.

Artistic Direction: Clark Bryan

Conductor: Andrew Rethazi

Assistant Conductor: Tom Corken

Born decades after Van Morrison was creating some of his most enduring music, singer-songwriter, Matt Weidinger, has a musical connection to the ’60s and ’70s, what he calls the golden age of record-making.

Anyone who’s seen him perform would agree with the “old soul” label, so it’s particularly fitting that he’s taking on the songs of an old soul master with his latest tribute to the music of Van Morrison.

It’ll be something of a retrospective of Van the Man’s extensive song catalogue, with a particular focus on the early stuff that was Weidinger’s introduction to Morrison’s brand of Celtic soul.

“I started listening to Van Morrison in high school, with Astral Weeks … and then Moondance,” he says, soon uncovering a treasure trove of musical offerings. “He’s got a huge catalogue. With Van Morrison, there’s just so much to see, so much to discover.”

Morrison has been prolific, with dozens of albums to his credit since 1967’s Blowin’ Your Mind! Fifty years on, in fact, he’s currently touring 2017’s Versatile, a collection of jazz standards and originals.

For Saturday night’s show, Weidinger’s put together a seven-piece band, including two horns to reflect the sound for which Morrison is known.

Weidinger’s own influences stem from the ’60s, as can be heard in both his vocals and his choice of music. Like Morrison, he began performing as a teen. For a relatively young performer, he’s already got more than a decade of experience under his belt that has earned him a solid following. In addition to singing and writing songs, he’s a multi-instrumentalist, equally at home on the piano, organ, guitar, bass and mandolin.

In preparation for the show, he’s had to dig deeper into Morrison’s music, developing an even greater appreciation for it … and banking some songs for future performances.

“Any time I can learn songs that I can put in my repertoire, add to the list, it’s great,” says Weidinger, adding such exercises help his own songwriting, providing a way to see words and music from a different perspective.

For Saturday night’s show, Matt Weidinger has put together a seven-piece band, including two horns to reflect the sound for which Morrison is known. Weidinger’s own influences stem from the ’60s, as can be heard in both his vocals and his choice of music.

Like Morrison, he began performing as a teen. For a relatively young performer, he’s already got more than a decade of experience under his belt that has earned him a solid following. In addition to singing and writing songs, he’s a multi-instrumentalist, equally at home on the piano, organ, guitar, bass and mandolin.

Born decades after Van Morrison was creating some of his most enduring music, 29 year old Matt Weidinger, has a musical connection to the ‘60s and ‘70s, what he calls the golden age of record-making. Anyone who has seen him would agree with the “old soul” label, so it’s particularly fitting that he’s taking on the songs of an old soul master with his latest tribute to the music of Van Morrison

With sold out shows at Hughes Room (Toronto), Peter's Player's (Gravenhurst), Registry Theatre (Kitchener) to name a few... This show is one not to miss!

No stranger to the stage, or the pulpit, Rev. Matthew Martin has been an Anglican priest for eight years and has been impersonating Elvis since before he was six. A true performer, Martin was the headliner in the Drayton Entertainment production of Blue Suede Shoes in 2012, and was named the Grand Champion, of the non-professional category in 2010 for his tribute of the King of Rock and Roll in Collingwood, Ontario.

Martin finds his true passion however, in celebrating the King of Kings. Martin spends his vocation as Director of Mission at Luke's Place working with UWO Students, St. Luke’s Worshipping Community preaching the Gospel and as Associate Priest and Director of Community Engagement at St Aidan’s in London.

Although the pandemic has paused live performances, Martin is back and performing charitable concerts in and around London. Martin’s voice always captivates - whether he is singing a century-old religious hymn, a touching Christmas carol or an upbeat rock song, you can clearly see his soul in every performance.

Matt volunteers each year as the spiritual director at Camp Wendake, a camp for people living with HIV/AIDS. He has decided to dedicate his talent in support of Camp Wendake. All proceeds from this evening go to the camp.

Camp Wendake is a one-week residential camp program for people living with HIV, their families and caregivers. Camp Wendake is an amazing contradiction! People gather because of a common health concern but find freedom from focusing upon the disease for a brief time and find an opportunity to celebrate life in a community where HIV/AIDS in the norm. People may choose to attend camp in order to learn and share more about coping with their overall health and social issues. Or they may come for the rest and refreshment of a caring and understanding community.