Award-winning musician and respected music educator Louis Simão has spent over 25 years as a versatile multi-instrumentalist, composing, performing, and recording across a wide range of genres. Over the course of his career, Louis has collaborated with an impressive roster of artists, including Nelly Furtado, Kiran Ahluwalia, Patricia Cano, Dominic Mancuso, Michael Occhipinti, Luis Mario Ochoa, Justin Rutledge, Guinga, Vesuvius Ensemble, Henrique Cazes, Sophie Milman, David Buchbinder, and Eliana Cuevas, as well as organizations like the Shaw Festival and Tapestry Opera.

In 2017, Louis was awarded the Song of the Year at the International Portuguese Music Awards and was recognized as the World Solo Artist of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards for his acclaimed debut solo album, A Luz (The Light). His latest collaboration with Brazilian multi-instrumentalist and composer Carlos Bernardo, From the Valley to the Mountain (Do Vale À Montanha) Volumes 1 & 2, debuted in October 2024.

The son of Portuguese immigrants and a first-generation Canadian, Louis seamlessly blends his cultural heritage with a distinct jazz sensibility and a chamber music compositional approach, creating a sound that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.

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Born and raised in Ontario’s Far North, Adrian Sutherland is a roots-rocker-with-heart from Attawapiskat on the coast of James Bay. His unique melding of roots, rock, folk, and blues draws inspiration from his northern life, traditional lands, and Cree culture and language. Adrian’s presence moves people; his soul-stirring music touches hearts and his songs ripple far beyond the stage.

His sophomore solo album, Precious Diamonds, was released in 2024. Recorded in Nashville with highly-acclaimed producer and legendary guitarist Colin Linden and mastered in New Jersey by multi-Grammy Award winner Greg Calbi, the album features two songs in Omushkegowuk Cree — the first time Adrian has written and performed in his first language. The lead single, “Notawe (Father),” was added to more than 100 radio stations across the US and Canada, appeared on Triple A charts, and reached #1 on the internationally recognized Indigenous Music Countdown.

As one of the only professional musicians to reside in a remote, fly-in First Nation, Adrian brings an authentic and insightful perspective to many of today’s most important issues facing Indigenous Peoples. During this time of reconciliation, he hopes Canadians will walk together in love and respect.

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Christine Friday is Anishinaabe Kwe and a resilient Indigenous storyteller deeply rooted in her family’s ancestral lands at Friday’s Point, Lake Temagami, located within the hereditary lands of the Wabi Mkwa family. She lives on Bear Island, in her community of Temagami First Nation. Christine began her dance career in 1992 with In the Land of Spirits, which led to a full-time contract with Desrosiers Dance Theatre. Over the past 30 years, she has maintained a professional career as a choreographer, producer, and director, creating solo and commissioned works, youth-focused initiatives, dance films, and full-scale productions.

For over 18 years, Christine has been working within her community base Ndakimenan (our ancestral homeland) [unceded] to promote kinship (belonging), environmental protection (reciprocity), cultural understanding, and lived experience. This inspired her to establish Friday Creeations, a multi-faceted Indigenous dance company and culture-based community platform that connects the origins of Anishinaabe culture with creative and artistic expression. The company aims to deepen connections to land, empowerment, and truth.

In 2024, Christine realized her dream by launching the Dance Studio Lodge, a state-of-the-art facility in the bush. She believes that creating culturally safe spaces is a vital pathway to sovereignty, enabling communities to reclaim and honour their ancestral lands, and strengthen their connection to place, purpose, and resilience.

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Donna Grantis is an acclaimed Canadian artist and musician. A passionate advocate of music as a force for social change, her current creative endeavour — The humanNATURE Project — fuses art and activism, bringing world-renowned musicians together with environmental leaders and the sounds of nature itself. In partnership with the environmental charity, EarthPercent (co-founded by Brian Eno), Grantis gratefully credits “The Earth” as a co-writer of music she creates. In April 2024, she participated in the launch of Sounds Right at the United Nations, a groundbreaking global initiative to establish NATURE as an official artist on streaming platforms. From climate conferences to music festivals, Grantis has taken to the stage as both a keynote speaker and virtuoso performer.

From 2012 to 2016, Grantis performed and recorded with music icon Prince as the co-lead electric guitarist in his funk-rock trio 3RDEYEGIRL and supergroup New Power Generation. She composed the title track to 3RDEYEGIRL’s 2014 release, PLECTRUMELECTRUM, which reached #1 on the Billboard Rock Chart. Notable performances include a history-making eight-minute segment on Saturday Night Live, three nights headlining the Montreux Jazz Festival, and a historic performance at the White House for President Barack Obama and his family. Grantis has shared the stage with a diverse array of artists including Stevie Wonder, Pearl Jam, Kendrick Lamar, and Dave Grohl.

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Toronto-based artist Haviah Mighty has spent a lifetime developing her skills as a songwriter, vocalist, and producer, culminating in a style of profound introspection and incisive socio-political critique. Her music seamlessly blends hip-hop, soul, and afrobeats, with a meticulous flow and cadence that transcends any traditional genre expectations.

In 2019, Haviah achieved breakout success with her album, 13th Floor, becoming the first hip-hop artist and the first Black woman to win the Polaris Music Prize. Her accolades continued from there with her JUNO Award-winning project, Stock Exchange (2021), her BET Best International Rapper nomination (2022), and additional JUNO nominations (2023).

Haviah’s notoriety has spread internationally, garnering praise from the likes of Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, GRM Daily, The FADER, and more. From performance invitations by massive tastemaker COLORSxSTUDIOS, to BBC 1’s Jack Saunders proclaiming “I just cannot find anything as good as Haviah Mighty,” to twice crushing the “5 Fingers of Death” challenge on the legendary Sway in the Morning show, as well as a standout appearance on On The Radar, Haviah continues to cement her place as an unstoppable force in music.

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Lua Shayenne is a dynamic creator who intertwines contemporary narratives with dance, song, and storytelling. Inspired by her African heritage and the Baha’i Faith, her art aims to ignite hearts and stir consciences, fostering dialogue and advocacy for ecological stewardship, social equity, and spiritual growth.

She is the creator and performer of the children’s dance theatre tale Yassama and The Beaded Calabash, touring since 2023. Lua is also the artistic director, choreographer, and performer of Lua Shayenne Dance Company (LSDC). Through LSDC, she envisioned and launched the YENSA Festival, a biennial event celebrating the diversity of Black women dance practitioners and offering year-round programming. LSDC will soon premiere WAVES, a new dance film, alongside new stage works.

Lua is on faculty at Toronto Metropolitan University’s dance program and shares African dance, music, storytelling, and culture with organizations and schools across Canada.

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Raised on a farm in rural Ontario, Marni Walsh began her career as an actor, director, and playwright in the 1980s in Toronto and regional theatres, while also acting in various TV shows, films, and commercials. As the founder and artistic director of Cullen Dinner Theatre during the 1980s and 1990s, she directed, wrote, produced, and performed in over 75 shows.

In 2020, after raising three treasured children with her actor-magician husband, Steve Baker, Marni re-emerged as the founder and artistic director of Act 3 Theatre Collective, a group of diverse, all-female actors and writers over the age of 60. As artistic director, she was the concept creator for The Mary-Go-Round Project at Aki Studio in Toronto, followed by a series of original staged readings. In 2024, she served as concept creator, performer, and producer of Act 3’s Disarming Venus, which sold out Toronto Fringe, Theatre Collingwood, Orillia Opera House, and Theatre Orangeville.

As a playwright, Marni’s romantic-comedy Laneway Cafe was part of Theatre Orangeville-Online in 2022. In 2024, her drama The Trial of Rosie McDougall was produced at Women At Play(s) in Toronto, and Ghost Story was produced at Peterborough Guild Theatre. Her full-length comedy Sew Far Sew Good has been selected by the Norm Foster Playwright Competition for a public reading in March 2025, and she will also direct Exit Here by award winning playwright Trina Davies at Women At Play(s) Toronto.

Based in Toronto and born in Changchun, China, Naishi Wang is a dancer and choreographer with a multidisciplinary practice in the performing arts. His work places the body at the centre of exploration, delving into its visual and conceptual aesthetics through themes of communication, translation, and transformation.

Since 2014, Naishi has been creating a series of choreographic works investigating these ideas. In 2018, he premiered his solo Taking Breath at Citadel + Compagnie in Toronto, later presenting it internationally in Hamburg, Germany. In 2022, he debuted the duet Face to Face, co-produced by Festival TransAmériques, which examines the complexities of virtual communication. The piece toured extensively to venues such as Tanzmesse (Germany), Schrittmacher Festival (Netherlands), and Tanz Ist (Austria). His recent production, Deciphers (2024), created in collaboration with UK-based artist Jean Abreu, toured across major Canadian cities.

Currently, Naishi is developing Eyes Wide Open (2026), a group work between TO Live and Naishi Dance, focusing on the transformation of emotionally damaged bodies. An artist-in-residence at the Citadel and TO Live, he continues to infuse his research with visual arts practices. His achievements include prestigious awards such as Les Respirations du FTA (2021), the CanDance Small Scale Creation Fund (2022), and a Chalmers Fellowship (2022).

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Penny Couchie is an arts leader, dancer, actor, choreographer, and community-engaged artist of Anishinaabe ancestry from Nipissing First Nation, Ontario. She is the co-founder and co-artistic director of Aanmitaagzi, an Indigenous multi-arts company based in her home community. Penny holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. In 2016, Penny received the KM Hunter Dance Award and in 2023, she was honoured with the Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award.

Over the past 20 years, Penny has guest taught at schools throughout Canada and the US, including the Centre for Indigenous Theatre. Her recent choreographic works include Spiderwoman Theater’s Misdemeanor Dream, La Mama, New York; The Unnatural and Accidental Women, National Arts Centre, Ottawa; Aanmitaagzi’s Serpent People, Citadel + Compagnie, Toronto; Material Witness, a co-production by Aanmitaagzi and Spiderwoman Theater, La Mama, New York; When Will You Rage? for Planet IndigenUs, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto; and Like An Old Tale, Jumblies Theatre, Toronto.

Penny is also the co-owner and operator of Big Medicine Studio, a 3,000-square-foot facility dedicated to the creation, development, and exhibition of Indigenous performing and visual arts.

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Vanese Smith is a sound and visual artist, mentor, and educator. Under the alias Pursuit Grooves, she has released over 16 albums and EPs and has been featured on more than 20 releases and compilations. She creates sonically adventurous electronic (mostly) instrumental music ranging from cinematic to experimental to up tempo, and has performed at festivals and theatres across Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia, and beyond.

Vanese co-founded Loop Sessions Toronto in 2019, an event programming collective that focuses on music education, culture, and electronic production, with support from the Toronto Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. She has also led workshops and given talks for numerous organizations and universities, including Queen’s University, University of Toronto, and Toronto Metropolitan University. Vanese has been featured in Musicworks Magazine, NOW, Exclaim!, Bandcamp, and Wax Poetics Japan.

Vanese is most proud of her albums Bess (a tribute to the first Black American female pilot, Bessie Coleman, from the 1920s), 100 Seams (an NPR-recommended album about her seamstress and pianist grandmother), Felt Armour (an exploration of industrial sounds as textures and rhythms), and Sustainable Movements For A New Age (focused on environmental impacts).

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