Western's JUNO Connections

By Marcia Steyaert, BA'96

The JUNO Awards are heading Western's way.

For the first time since the award show began touring across the country in 2002, London, Ontario will host The 2019 JUNO Awards along with all JUNO Week festivities, March 11 – March 17, 2019. The 48th Annual JUNO Awards will be broadcast live on CBC from Budweiser Gardens, on Sunday March 17, 2019.

Several JUNO nominees, winners and past judges are connected to Western - as alumni, faculty and students. Check out our list here and if we've missed anyone, please contact Rachel Condie, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for Western's Don Wright Faculty of Music, at rachel.condie@uwo.ca.

Peter Brennan, BMus’75

• Selected as a JUNO judge
• In the early 1990s, Peter formed a rock/symphonic ensemble, known as Jeans 'n Classics which became known across the continent

Basia Bulat, BA'06 (English)

• Nominated for a 2011 JUNO in the Best New Artist of the Year
• Nominated for a 2014 JUNO in the Adult Alternative Album of the Year category for her third album Tall Tall Shadow
• Nominated for a 2017 JUNO in the Adult Alternative Album of the Year category for her fourth album Good Advice

Patrick Cardy, BMus’75 (1953 – 2005)

• JUNO nomination 1992 Best Classical Composition for Virelai

T. Patrick Carrabré, MMus’83

• Nominated for a 2009 JUNO in the Classical Composition category
• Also nominated in 1990 for his composition Sonata No. 1, The Penitent for violin and piano.

Duncan Coutts, BA’93 (Film)

• Bassist for Our Lady Peace (OLP) since 1995
• OLP has had 21 JUNO nominations and four wins: 2006 - Group; 2003 – Rock Album (Gravity); 1998 – Group; 1995 – Album Artwork (Naveed)

Julia Davids, BMusEd’95, BEd’96

• The Canadian Chamber Choir (CCC) was nominated for the 2016 JUNO. Julia is a founding member and artistic director of CCC.
• The nomination was for their second CD Sacred Reflections of Canada: A Canadian Mass in the category of Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance. The album features 17 Canadian composers whose works were curated by Davids.

Tony Dekker, BA'00 (English)

• Leader of the indie folk band Great Lake Swimmers, he has also released two solo albums.
• Great Lake Swimmers received JUNO Roots & Traditional Album of the Year (Group) nominations in 2010 (Lost Channels) and 2013 (New Wild Everywhere)

Allison Eagles, MMus’02

• Featured on the Canadian Chamber Choir album, nominated for the 2016 JUNO Award

Tomson Highway, BMus'75, DMus'93

• Nominated for 2015 JUNO in category of Aboriginal Album of the Year for The (Post) Mistress

Jay Hodgson (Don Wright Faculty of Music professor)

• Nominated for the 2014 JUNO for Electronic Album of the Year for Graze, Graze (New Kanada: NK 42)
• Nominated for the 2016 JUNO for Electronic Album of the Year for Concubine, Concubine (Independent)

Joel Ivany, BMusA’04

• Produced Ayre: Live, nominated for a 2019 JUNO for Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral 
  

Jeffrey King, BMusEd’93

• Won the 2007 JUNO award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year for From the Heart with the Hilario Duran Big Band

Catherine Lippitt, MMus’00

• Featured on the Canadian Chamber Choir album, nominated for the 2016 JUNO Award.

• 2019 JUNO nomination for Canadian Breakout Group of the year
• 2019 JUNO nomination for Fan Choice
• 2019 JUNO nomination for Single of the Year 
• 2019 JUNO nomination for Dance Recording of the Year
  

• Member of the McAuley Boys along with brothers Ronald (Gary) McAuley, George McAuley and Mark McAuley
• The McAuley Boys were nominated for a 1997 JUNO Award for Best R&B/Soul Recording for In Another Lifetime

Kevin McMillan, BMus'83

• JUNO Award Nomination, 1998 NAC Recordings - Exquisite Fires, Bouchard: Songs for an Acrobat, National Arts Centre orchestra, Conductor: Trevor Pinnock
• JUNO Award Nomination, 1996, Dorian Recordings - Bach: Secular Cantatas, Les Violons du Roy, Conductor: Bernard Labadie
• JUNO Award Nomination, 1994, Marquis Records - Schwanengesang - Franz Schubert, Lev Natochenny, piano
• JUNO Award Nomination, 1992, CBC recording - “Lieder on Poems of Heinrich Heine”, Michael McMahon, piano
• JUNO Award Nomination, 1989, Marquis Records - “Songs of Britten and Vaughan Williams”, John Greer, piano

Victoria Meredith (former Associate Dean of Music and Professor Emerita)

• JUNO judge

Elizabeth Mitchell, BMusEd’05

• Current PhD student at Western
• Elizabeth was featured on the Canadian Chamber Choir album, nominated for the 2016 JUNO Award

Stephan Moccio, BMus’94

• Artist, composer, performer, producer, arranger, and conductor
• Had multiple credits, from keyboards to co-writing, on 2016 JUNO Album of the Year winner Beauty Behind The Madness by The Weeknd

Charlotte Nediger, BMus’79, MMus’83

• Principal keyboard player for Tafelmusik since 1980.
• Tafelmusik has released over 80 CDs and has been awarded numerous international recording prizes, including nine JUNO Awards and more than 30 additional nominations since 1987

Kerri Ough, BMusEd’03

• Member of The Good Lovelies, winners of the 2010 JUNO Award Roots & Traditional Album (Group)

Nathan Piche, BMus’11 and Matt Piche, BMus’12, BEd’13 (brothers)

• Their band Article One was nominated for a 2009 JUNO in the Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year category

Joe Phillips (Don Wright Faculty of Music lecturer – double bass)

• Jayme Stone's Folklife, a group he plays bass and sings with, was nominated for a 2018 JUNO album of the same name, in the category of "Traditional Roots Album of the Year".
• Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project was also nominated in 2016 (Traditional Roots Album of the Year category).
• Jayme Stone won JUNOS in 2009 for Africa to Appalachia (World Music Album category) and in 2018 for The Utmost (Instrumental Album category)

Adrianne Pieczonka, BMus'85, DMus'12

• Nominated for 2007 JUNO Classical Album of the year for Adrianne Pieczonka Sings Wagner and Strauss
• Won the 2011 JUNO Classical Album of the year for Adrianne Pieczonka Sings Puccini

Michael Schade, BMus’88

• Michael’s Arie e Duetti, a Mozart feature recorded with Russell Braun and Isabel Bayrakdarian (CBC Records), won the 2007 JUNO award for Best Classical Album

Gary Slaight, BA’73 (English)

• Founder of Slaight Music
• 2018 JUNO Humanitarian Award
• 2012 Walt Grealis Special Achievement JUNO Award

Scott St. John (Don Wright Faculty of Music consultant and chamber coach - violin)

• Along with his sister Lara St. John, he won the 2011 JUNO for Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment

Jeffrey Stokes (former Dean of Music and Professor Emeritus)

• JUNO judge

Frazer Sundown

• Current student in First Nations Studies at Western
• He was featured on Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie’s album Round Dance & Beats, which was nominated for a 2017 JUNO Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year

Tafelmusik connections:

• Don Wright Faculty of Music members (and London Symphonia members) Joseph Lanza (violin) and Ron George (horn) - both performed with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir in the 2017 JUNO nominated classical award Beethoven Symphony No. 9 on the ensemble’s nominated Classical Album of the Year: Large Ensemble or Soloist(s) with Large Ensemble Accompaniment.

Sharon Wei, BMus’00 (also current Don Wright Faculty of Music professor)

• Co-founder and member of piano quartet Ensemble Made in Canada (viola)
• Ensemble Made in Canada commissioned and performed the 2016 JUNO nominated “Piano Quartet” by Canadian composer John Burge in Classical Composition of the Year category

James Westman (Don Wright Faculty of Music lecturer - voice)

• His recordings have been nominated for four JUNOS

Oliver Whitehead (Department of Modern Languages & Literatures adjunct professor)

• Nominated for 1985 JUNO Best Jazz Album of the Year for Free for Now with the Oliver Whitehead Quintet