Canadian Musician - September/October 2020 | Page 16

CHANGES
MARK YOUR
CALENDAR...
SING! Festival Ready for Virtual
2020 Run
SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival is presenting
its ninth annual edition online from
Sept. 29-Oct. 4, 2020. Some of the programming
highlights announced for the virtual
event, which is sponsored in part by Canadian
Musician, include: the SING! In Concert
Prime Time series of nightly performances
by artists including FreePlay, Beatsync,
Cadence, and Retrocity; a celebration of the
10 th anniversary of one of SING!’s founding
groups, Countermeasure; best-selling
author and Juno Award-winner Tom Wilson
of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Lee
Harvey Osmond headlining the annual O
Canada concert; a Las Vegas-themed show
headlined by Micah Barnes; SING! and Learn
interactive Zoom workshops with internationally-acclaimed
clinicians; and more.
For more information, go to:
www.singtoronto.com
AND THE
AWARD
GOES TO...
PHOTO: BNB STUDIOS
picked by a panel of music experts. For winning,
Prince received the $5,000 first prize, a
Yamaha keyboard, and a $500 gift card from
Long & McQuade.
In a first in SOCAN Songwriting Prize
history, the writers of each of the remaining
nine nominated songs were awarded $500.
For more information, go to
www.socansongwritingprize.ca.
Video for Jessie Reyez’s “Far Away”
Wins 2020 Prism Prize
The 2020 Prism Prize jury of over 120 Canadian
creative arts professionals selected
director Peter Huang as the 2020 Grand
Prize recipient for the Jessie Reyez music
video “Far Away.” The Grand Prize carries a
$20,000 cash prize and recognizes outstanding
artistry in Canadian music videos. The
fan-voted Audience Award was given to
directors Keavan Yazdani and Sean Brown
for the video for Daniel Caesar and Koffee’s
song “Cyanide Remix.”
Huang and Reyez’s heartbreaking video
for “Far Away” makes a vivid statement about
the lives ruined by ICE and the Trump Administration’s
immigration enforcement policies.
For more information and to watch all
the winning and short-listed videos, go to
www.prismprize.com.
PHOTO: @CCMAOFFICIAL
also confirmed that it will now be a broadcast-
and online-only event airing Sept. 27
on Global TV and web platforms.
Leading with six nominations is reigning
Female Artist of the Year Tenille Townes. She
is up for Female Artist, Songwriter, Video, Interactive
Artist or Group, and Entertainer of
the Year, as well as Fans’ Choice. Dean Brody
and Brett Kissel follow with five nominations
each.
This year’s nominations see women represented
in 91% of artist categories (where
eligible) and includes five artists receiving
their first-ever CCMA Awards nomination.
To view a complete listing of the 2020
nominees, go to www.ccma.org.
JESSIA & MELISSA KADAS
LVS Announces Winners of
Inaugural ‘Becoming’ Emerging
Artist Contest
Lawson Vocal Studios (LVS) has announced
the winners of the inaugural Becoming
contest for emerging artists, sponsored in
part by Canadian Musician. Out of the hundreds
of entries received, eight promising
emerging artists were chosen as standouts
between the under-17 and 18-and-over categories,
including overall Standout Artists
Melissa Kadas and JESSIA, respectively.
LVS aims to support continued artist
development and awarded thousands of
dollars’ worth of prizing. The Becoming
contest was held as a celebration of the
studio’s fifth anniversary and will continue
as an annual event.
For more information, visit
www.lawsonvocalstudios.com.
William Prince’s “The Spark” Wins
SOCAN Songwriting Prize
William Prince won the 15 th annual English
SOCAN Songwriting Prize for his song “The
Spark.” Canadian music fans voted online
from July 16-30 from a short list of 10 songs
Tenille Townes, Brett Kissel & Dean
Brody Lead 2020 CCMA Award
Nominees
The Canadian Country Music Association
(CCMA) announced the nominees for the
38 th Canadian Country Music Awards, and
16 CANADIAN MUSICIAN