Once again this year, SOCAN #ComposersWhoScore have fared very well in nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards. With expanded musical categories this year, 47 of our members have earned nominations, 11 of them have garnered double-noms, and Antonio Naranjo and Jonathan Goldsmith have been honoured with three nods each.

Presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Canadian Screen Awards were born of the fusion of two awards ceremonies – the Genie Awards for movies and Gemini Awards for television. The 2023 awards will be presented over six days during Canadian Screen Week, April 11-16, 2023.

The SOCAN nominees are as follows:

FILM

 Achievement in Music – Original Score

  • Ian Lefeuvre – Ashgrove
  • Todor Kobakov – Brother
  • Adrian Ellis – Cult Hero
  • Ari Posner– The End of Sex

 Achievement in Music – Original Song

  • Ian Lefeuvre – “The Weight” from Ashgrove
  • Marie Clements, Wayne Lavallee, Jesse Zubot – “You Are My Bones” from Bones of Crows
  • Chuck Baker, Tony Burgess – “The Ascension Song,” from Cult Hero
  • Rose Cousins, Breagh Isabel – “Get Home,” from Dawn, Her Dad & The Tractor
  • Kate Hewlett – “The Swearing Song,” from The Swearing Jar

Best Original Music in a Feature-Length Documentary

  • Walker Grimshaw – Dear Audrey
  • Edo Vanbreemen, Johannes Winkler (N/A) – Handle with Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew
  • Delphine Measroch – Humus
  • Ramachandra Borcar– Scrap
  • Jonathan Goldsmith – To Kill a Tiger

TELEVISION

 Best Original Music, Animation

  • Amin Bhatia, Ari Posner, Kris Kuzdak – Let’s Go Luna! – “Dig It Daddy-O” episode
  • Caleb Chan, Brian Chan – Pinecone & Pony – “Lance Or Not” / “Treat Your Creature” episodes
  • Caleb Chan, Brian Chan – Team Zenko Go – “Harmony Harbor’s Holiday Surprise,” Part 1 and 2 episodes
  • Jeff Morrow – The Snoopy Show – “Dogs Don’t Say Goodbye” episode
  • Neil Parfitt – Super Wish – “Legend of the Cake-Bun Bottom” episode

 Best Original Music, Drama

  • Tom Third – Coroner – “LJND” episode
  • Keith Power – Departure – “Runaway” episode
  • Gary Koftinoff, Philip J Bennett – Hudson & Rex – “No Man is an Island” episode
  • Jonathan Goldsmith – The Porter – Episode 101
  • Lora Bidner, Robert Carli – Ruby and the Well – “I Wish We’d Stayed Friends”

Best Original Music, Comedy

  • Ames Bessada – Astrid & Lilly Save the World – Pilot episode
  • Ari Posner, Amin Bhatia, Sarah Slean, Antonio Naranjo – Detention Adventure – “Singing in the Raign” episode
  • John Rowley – Pretty Hard Cases – “Pencil Skirts” episode
  • Alan Doyle, Keith Power – Son of a Critch – “Old Soul, New School” episode
  • Ceréna, Emily Persich, Moël (n/a), Terrell Morris, SVDP (n/a), Vivek Shraya – Sort Of – “Sort Of Who She Is” episode

Best Original Music, Documentary

  • Todor Kobakov – A.rtificial I.mmortality
  • Tom Third – BLK: An Origin Story – ​​Nova Scotia: Three Epic Migrations, One People
  • Ramachandra Borcar – Dear Jackie
  • Ohad Benchetrit, Justin Small – The Perfect Story
  • Michelle Osis – Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children

 Best Original Music, Factual, Lifestyle, Reality, or Entertainment

  • Rachael Johnstone, Annelise Noronha, Jason Turriff, Earl Torno – A Cut Above –  Episode 101
  • Guillaume Coutu Dumont – Eat Me (or try not to) –  “The Taste” episode
  • Derek Miller – Friday Night Thunder – “You Gotta Push the Limits or Stay Behind” episode
  • Les Stroud, Kevin Kossowan, David Bateman – Les Stroud’s Wild Harvest –  “Mussels & Wild Radish” episode
  • Joseph Shabason – Open Fire – “The Fall Cookout” episode

 Best Original Music, Original Song

  • Antonio Naranjo, Carla Sutton – Detention Adventure –  “See You Later” episode –  “See You Later”
  • Antonio Naranjo, Carla Sutton – Detention Adventure – “Singing in the Raign” episode – “No Place Like Home”
  • Jonathan Goldsmith, Kaïa Kater – The Porter – Episode 104 – “Songbird”
  • Emily Persich – Sort Of – “Sort Of Broke” episode – “Superpowers”
  • Creighton Doane, Melanie Doane, Bob Ezrin – Ukulele U – “Use Your Inside Voice” episode –  “Use Your Outside Voice”

For further information and a complete list of nominees, visit the Canadian Screen Awards website. Congratulations to all our nominees on this great achievement!



The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) has announced its first inductee for 2023 – celebrated Celtic fusion singer-songwriter Loreena McKennitt. Her masterful songwriting, ethereal soprano voice, and imaginative arrangements, that combine her passion for traditional Celtic music with global music influences, have forged her own distinctive genre of “eclectic Celtic.”

The CSHF will honour McKennitt on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 – International Women’s Day – at The Opera House in Toronto, to celebrate her esteemed catalogue, which spans nearly four decades.  The induction presentation will be one of the highlights of the Women in Music Canada Honours event. The inaugural program celebrates and supports female Canadian innovators and creators who’ve had outstanding success in their field.

“Loreena is a musical enigma whose songs are seamlessly timeless, yet current; rooted in tradition, yet inventive.  She’s a storyteller who can weave through eras and cultures, and transcend boundaries,” says Stan Meissner, Board Chairman of the CSHF.  “Loreena has achieved global success on her own terms, and has remained steadfast as an independent recording artist, which is both admirable and deserving of recognition.”

“I’m deeply honoured to be receiving this recognition,” says McKennitt. “For 25 years this organization has shown a deep devotion to celebrating and promoting Canadian songwriters, and this country’s rich musical legacy. We’ve all been enriched by their work. I feel so privileged to have my name added to their list of distinguished Canadian songwriters.”

Loreena McKennitt relocated from Winnipeg to Stratford, Ontario, in 1981, and began her career as an actor, singer, and composer for the Stratford Festival, appearing in The Tempest (1982) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1984).  In 1985, she learned to play the troubadour harp, and embarked on a solo music career, founding her Quinlan Road label and financing her Irish-based debut recording, Elemental, by busking in Toronto.

Early on, McKennitt decided to focus her songwriting on her passion, Celtic music, rather than autobiographical songwriting.  Her original songs and skilful musical arrangements of time-honoured English and Irish poems, such as Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott and W.B. Yeats’s Stolen Child, were part world music, folk-roots, and Celtic Wave, infused with a classical finesse.

After forging a distribution deal with Warner Music Canada, she won her first JUNO Award in 1992 for the multi-platinum album The Visit, and her second JUNO win for Best Roots Album came in 1995 for for The Mask and Mirror, exploring Celtic connections to both Spanish and Arabic music.  She’s garnered a total of 11 JUNO nominations, including three for Best Female Vocalist, and Artist of the Year in 2007.

She followed this with The Book of Secrets and its JUNO-nominated single “The Mummers’ Dance,” its chorus borrowed from a traditional Oxfordshire song. The album became her highest-charting effort, at No. 3 on Billboard, and sold more than four million copies worldwide, of which over two million were in the U.S. alone. Her song earned a BMI Award, and is now a SOCAN Classic.

The album featured McKennitt’s inventive fusion treatments as a multi-instrumentalist, combining keyboards, harp, and acoustic and electric guitars with global-music instruments (bodhran, bouzouki, kanoun, oud, tabla, etc.) and early-music instruments (hurdy gurdy, viola de gamba, shawm).  Her subsequent albums An Ancient Muse and Troubadours on the Rhine both earned Grammy Award nominations.

McKennitt has sold more than 14 million records worldwide. Available in more than 40 countries, her albums have garnered critical international acclaim, and Gold, Platinum, and multi-Platinum awards in 15 countries across four continents, including Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, France, Spain, Italy, Turkiye, and Greece.

She’s also composed music for a wide range of films. Her first screen credits include the National Film Board of Canada’s Women and Spirituality series (1989 – 1993) and Jean-Claude Lauzon’s Léolo (1992). McKennitt contributed both music and narration for Disney’s The Santa Clause (1994) and Tinker Bell (2008).

In 2021 McKennitt marked the 30-year anniversary of her ground-breaking album The Visit by releasing a special Definitive Edition package including archival materials. She recently wrapped her Under a Winter’s Moon tour, and released a new album of the same title, featuring carols and readings by Indigenous actor Tom Jackson, Gemini award-winning actor Cedric Smith, and Ojibway artist and flautist Jeffrey “Red” George.

Following her induction presentation in Toronto, a permanent exhibit will be dedicated to Loreena at the   Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at the National Music Centre in Calgary.  This year the CSHF will mark its 25th anniversary of celebrating Canada’s greatest songwriters and inductees.



Women In Music Canada (WIMC) has shared the long list of nominees for the first-ever Women In Music Canada Honours, scheduled for International Women’s Day – March 8, 2023 – at the Opera House in downtown Toronto. Recipients will be recognized and celebrated, alongside a dinner reception and showcase performances. Tickets are available.

The list was selected by a jury of 22 professional Canadian music industry leaders and creators, appointed by Women in Music Canada, and represents the top submissions. The final honourees will be curated from the long list by a finalist jury.

The WIMC Honours program was designed to celebrate and support Canadian innovators and creators who’ve had outstanding success in their field in the eligibility year (December 2021 through December 2022 for annual-based categories). Categories include Artist of the Year, Distinguished Leader, Entrepreneur of the Year, Excellence in Live Music, International Leader of the Year, Organization of the Year, the Trailblazer Award, and the Women in Music Canada Honour Roll, which will honour up to 10 women and gender-diverse industry members or artists on the rise.

The Honours reception, hosted by CBC’s Saroja Coelho, will showcase an incredible group of artists performing throughout the evening, including rising country star Sacha; producer, DJ, and performer Liliane Chlela; JUNO-nominated recording artist, singer-songwriter and producer Desirée Dawson; Cree and Salish singer and TikTok creator Tia Wood; singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sofia Camara; and decorated, multi-platinum recording artist Fefe Dobson.

During the event, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame will induct multi-award winning, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Loreena McKennitt.

The Long List  nominees are:

Amanda Power – The Unison Fund
Amber Moyle – Polaris Music Prize
Anna Ruddick – The Unison Fund
Anne Stirk – Spotify Canada
Ashley Bieniarz – Songsmiths
Béatrice Martin – Bravo musique and Coeur de pirate
Carey Riley – Sony Music Canada
Charlotte Cardin
DeeDee Austin
Domanique Grant
Elise Roller – Misfit Music MGMT
Faryal Khan-Thompson – TuneCore
Fefe Dobson – 21 Entertainment Group Inc.
Fredericka Petit-Homme
Heather Gibson – National Arts Centre
Irish Mythen – Irish Mythen
Janna Sailor – Janna Sailor (Allegra Chamber Orchestra)
Jenn Ivanovs – Jives Management
Jessica Holtby – Seeka Sings
Jessica Lemmon – Lemmon Entertainment
Jessika Harling – JESSIA
Karen Kosowski
Katrina Kernaghan – TikTok
Lana Winterhalt – Good + Plenty Producer’s Club
Marilyne Lacombe – Mothland
Mary Beth Waldram – Laughing Heart Music
Monika Ouellet – Lazermortis
Nico Paulo
Nicole Auger – Indigenous Music Alliance
Nicole Alosinac – Nicole Alosinac Luthiery
Ryhna Thompson – Envision Management & Production
Samantha Pickard – Strut Entertainment
Sandy Graham – EMG
Shantel Noel – Spotify
Sharine Taylor – Independent / Bashy
Shauna de Cartier – Six Shooter Records
ShoShona Kish – Ishkode Records / Indigenous Music Alliance
Shumaila Hemani – Shumaila Hemani
Stacey Bedford – Bandzoogle
STONE AGE UG – STONE AGE ENTERTAINMENT
STORRY
Sunny Chen – Sad China
Tanika Charles
Tyler Tasson – Endemic Marketing
Yolanda Sargeant – Sargeant X Comrade