The Juno Awards, this country’s annual reflection on the best in Canadian music, have taken on new meaning as the reputation of our artists continues to spread internationally. Right here in our own backyard of oh-so-serious U of T academia, we happen to be producing some of this country’s top talent. The Faculty of Music’s teachers, students, alumni, and ensembles in residence together represent a whopping nine Juno nominations in six categories.
Here’s a look at four of our own with their eye on the prize.
The Diva: Measha Bruggergosman
Measha Bruggergosman is going places. At age 27, she has already won the Grand Prize at the 2002 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition and has sung at many of the top concert halls around the world.
Nova Scotia-born Bruggergosman knew she wanted to be an opera singer from the time she first started singing lessons-at age 5. When it came time for university, she came to U of T for singing and began her studies with professor Mary Morrison at the faculty of music.
“She was the person who transitioned me into another level of singing,” Bruggergosman says. “Not to mention that she is the best singing teacher in Canada.”
How has she managed to achieve so much so quickly?
“Fire in the belly,” Bruggergosman says. “It’s an absolute necessity in this business. If you don’t have the competitive disposition to be the absolute best at what you are doing, then you won’t make it.”
Despite all her success, her Juno nomination is still important to her: “It’s absolutely the most important award in Canada and it’s absolutely an honour to be nominated. It’s important that we herald our classical musicians as much as we herald those who likely won’t be around next year.”
Nonetheless, she downplays the importance of awards.
“[In classical music] the work is ongoing, but it’s pretty dreamy to get high fives along the way.”
The Teacher: Russel Hartenberger
Russel Hartenberger is the perennial teacher. Despite a rather successful career as a classical percussionist with his group Nexus, he continues as a professor of percussion at the faculty of music. He says that his two jobs reinforce each other.
Though Nexus are nominated for their most recent album, Drumtalker, the group is a mainstay of the classical music scene. Notably, Nexus wrote the soundtrack for the award-winning documentary, The Man Who Skied Down Everest.
This album is especially meaningful for Hartenberger because his daughter Laura wrote the story that accompanies his composition “The Invisible Proverb.”
How does Hartenberger explain his success?
“When I was young I had a great teacher,” he says. “I think when musicians become successful, it is because they have had a great teacher.”
His great teacher was Alan Abel, percussionist for the Oklahoma City Symphony. Hartenberger notes, “Musically he taught me the fundamentals of playing. I use many, if not all of his ideas. The fundamentals are the most important part of teaching and playing.”
Hartenberger is happy with his dual career as a performer and a teacher.
“I always assumed that things would work out and they have. I’ve never had any doubts about that. It’s turned out greater than I ever could’ve imagined.”
The Jazz Cat: Mike Murley
Mike Murley is no stranger to the Junos. Since winning his first Juno in 1991 for his CD Two Sides, he’s been a sideman and a frontman for seven other Juno Award-winning discs, with 20 total nominations to his name.
“It’s not a solo art form,” Murley explains. “You have to be able to communicate in a group. It’s more about getting a group sound. You have to [cultivate] musical relationships with the people you feel most comfortable with. It’s about getting the right people together.”
Murley started a label with his friends called Unity Records through which he made Two Sides. The label attracted the attention of many up-and-comers in the jazz scene in Toronto at the time.
Murley, a part-time jazz instructor at U of T, appreciates the Toronto scene: “A lot of people in this community have a lot of support from the [federal arts funding body] Canada Council. Toronto-and Canada-is a very good place to play this music.”
However, he says, Canada “is isolated in the global scene… one of the problems that we run into as Canadians is that the Europeans and Japanese markets are looking for Americans.”
The Innovator: Justin Abedin
You know Justin Abedin’s music. You may not know his name, but you certainly have heard his sly guitar playing in one place or another.
Abedin is the guitarist for the Juno-nominated Resurrected album by Toronto R&B group Jacksoul. But in fact, he is a multi-faceted artist that doesn’t stick to just one genre.
After playing guitar his whole life, it was only a few months into a Commerce degree at McMaster that he finally realized he was destined to become a musician.
“It’s a burning desire,” he explains. “I had to do it. It’s just so undeniable. I had to honour that passion in me.”
He transferred to Humber College in Toronto to study jazz and didn’t find it stimulating enough. So he switched to U of T’s jazz program instead.
He started performing with them while finishing his jazz degree in 1995. Jacksoul’s first album, Absolute, got a Juno nomination in 1996.
Abedin doesn’t mind that you’ve probably never heard of him.
“I do like the role of support,” he notes. “If we’re talking about a band like Jacksoul, my role is to serve the song.”
He is not the type of guy to rest on his laurels. He is in the avant-garde experimental rock improv band Retainer; plays in a jazz duo with singer Nikki Loney; he scores TV shows, commercials, and films; and to top it all off, he’s a producer as well.
Retainer really lets Abedin express himself, he says. “At times it sounds like a cinematic film score, other times it’s like Radiohead on speed.”
In the duo with Nikki Loney, he uses a distinct kind of guitar with eight strings (normally there are only six) that allows him to achieve complex piano-like accompaniment on guitar.
With all this artistry, the soul-pop stylings of Jacksoul may seem a bit simplistic for the skilful guitarist. But he says, “Some of the tracks on there are my most favourite work I’ve ever done. It doesn’t matter what style of music it is-the way we made the album, the way it sounds, is very honest and sincere. It’s very much like a jazz album.”
Even with his full plate of projects, Abedin says a big part of his future lies in producing.
Currently he is producing a variety of alt-country, “newgrass”, and jazz singers.
“I started with rock, then went into blues, then reggae, Indian music, jazz, classical, now I’m into bluegrass,” he enthuses. “For me, I like to keep it fresh.”
Root for all of U of T’s nominees during the Juno Awards April 3 at 8 pm on CTV.
