Kevin LaFleur is a guitarist, pianist and composer based in Montreal. Interested in the ways that landforms and their organisms can guide music composition and improvisation, his practice depends on ways of observation and experimentation which are at home in natural spaces. After training as a composer and guitarist in the faculty of jazz and improvised music at McGill university, he has developed an expansive sound, gathered from his work in live electronics, free improvisation, contemporary dance, and Appalachian folk music.

Kevin is deeply interested in how art forms in and out of music can inform each other, and has a long standing project on connecting short fiction and composition. Equally at home in Jazz, folk, and pop contexts, he has worked extensively in the Montreal music scene, and maintains an ambitious schedule as a composer-performer. His first record of original music is in the works.

Kevin LaFleur was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the Liz Crockford Artists Fund.

Multi-instrumentalist Kelvin Mansaray is a unique emerging voice in contemporary music. Born and raised in Nova Scotia with roots in Transylvania and Sierra Leone, Kelvin began his musical journey in community groups like the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra and Jerry Granelli’s Creative Music Workshop. He has developed a compositional practice through self-directed study and collaboration with an intergenerational group of artists in the field of American music. Since relocating to Toronto, he has been performing and recording original music. Kelvin’s depth of practice on the violin and research into a variety of musical traditions make him a passionate and engaging performer, collaborator, and educator.

Kelvin Mansaray was generously supported by the Cyril and Elizabeth Challice Fund for Musicians.

Pianist Andrew Zhao made his concert debut at the age of 11 performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ken-David Masur. His solo appearances across the United States and Europe, in repertoire ranging from Bach to Saariaho, include performances at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles, Carnegie Hall in New York City, Harris Concert Hall at the Aspen Music Festival, and the Borromeo Music Festival in Switzerland. As a chamber musician, Andrew is a founding member of the London-based Trio Thalassa, which won the Royal Academy of Music’s Historical Women Composers Prize for their performance of Rebecca Clarke’s Piano Trio.

Andrew is currently a masters student at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies with Rustem Hayroudinoff. He graduated with a B.A. in music and public policy analysis from Pomona College in southern California, where he studied with Genevieve Feiwen Lee. In his hometown of San Diego, California, Andrew studied with Inessa Litvin, and is grateful to Mrs. Litvin for establishing his musical foundations and love for piano playing. He has participated in masterclasses with Robert McDonald, Dang Thai Son, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

Jonathan Kawchuk is a Canadian composer and sound artist, notably having scored Before the Ice (2024) and episodes of David Suzuki's The Nature of Things. His work spans theatre, film, and sound installations and he has worked on albums for Nico Muhly and Ben Frost, and studied field recording under Chris Watson. An alumnus of several music residencies, he is a Grammy voting member, recording artist on Paper Bag Records, and the Canadian representative for acoustic conservation non-profit Quiet Parks International.

Kawchuk’s most recent record Everywhen was created by playing back vocal recordings deep in the Canadian Rockies, allowing them to reverberate, and then re-recording the result in multichannel surround sound after they had gathered the forest’s characteristic echo. His next album will explore the paleoecology of Alberta/BC using instruments built from living fossil wood species, extended vocal techniques, and concatenative synthesis.

Jonathan Kawchuk was generously supported by the Alice and Betty Schultz Scholarships Endowment Fund for Dance and Music.

Hiromu Seifert is a Berlin-based Japanese-German jazz drummer, composer and music producer seeking the communication of “effortless, direct & healing truth” through his creation and making of music. He finds his artistic home in both classical concert halls as well as jazz clubs and often works in the intersection of groove-based music, contemporary classical and jazz & improvised contexts. 

Hiromu has performed concerts across Europe, UK and Asia at festivals like the Beethovenfest Bonn, Berliner Festspiele, Umbria Jazz, Goethe-Institut and clubs like Band On the Wall, Gretchen Club etc. and endorses CANOPUS drums. 

As part of the dynamic and innovative Berlin music scene, he had the opportunity to work with diverse artists such as: Manos Tsangaris, Robyn Schulkowsky, Noam Sivan, Vincent Ott, electronic musicians like Andi Toma (Mouse on Mars), pop star Hani Mojtahedi, jazz greats like Nils Landgren, Greg Cohen, John Hollenbeck, Wanja Slavin, Chicago House legend Robert Owens, as well as ensembles like the improvising orchestra Stegreif Orchestra or members of the Bremen Philharmonic. 

Hiromu’s compositions have been performed at venues such as Laieszhalle Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, Neuköllner Oper, enjoy jazz, Berliner Festspiele, Martin-Gropius Bau as well as for the annual Christmas Party of the German president.

Hiromu Seifert was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the OK Gift Shop Endowment.

A Dominican-American improviser, pianist and composer from Chicago, Julián´s journey started with the Caribbean rhythms of their childhood. A classically trained artist, their work found a home in jazz performance, improvisation, and collaboration. Julián is a recent Jazz Performance graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where they studied with Warren Wolf as a recipient of the Merit School of Music's Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-Free Conservatory Blue Ribbon Scholarship. As a solo pianist they have studied at the Aspen Music Festival, Gijón Piano Festival, Brevard Music Festival and Colburn Piano Festival.  As a founding member of the Peabody Improvisers Collective, Julián developed experimental collaborative programs and has been creating and performing improvisational music for ballet, modern and West-African dance programs in Baltimore as an accompanist at Peabody, and in Chicago as an accompanist at Ruth Page and Visceral Dance Centers.  

Julián is the Director of the Julián and Friends Concert Series, a monthly composer platform highlighting new music stemming from the many traditions of Black American Music now in its third year at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago; and is the founder of Mamey, a musical group and project that delves into the influence that Caribbean arts have had in their musical creative journey, and honors beautiful Dominico-Haitian traditions and cultural resilience, while promoting new and vibrant art. Julián is a member of the piano faculty at The Music Offering in Evanston, Illinois, and just released the single Rothko; Tlaloc and Totec featuring Levi Lu and Lorin Benedict, on the New York artist label Carrier Records. They are one of five Chicago artists recently chosen to participate in the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Event’s Center for Creative Entrepreneurship 2024 Cohort, to cultivate and advance their professional practice, and is the recipient of a South Arts Jazz Tour Grant for their Spring Mamey tour of the East Coast. 

Julián Pujols Quall was generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards and the George Brough Memorial Endowment.

Sam Fournier is a Métis multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, composer, performer and arranger based in Winnipeg. As a bassist, Fournier has performed throughout the province and Canada with a wide variety of groups, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba Jazz Studies program. While he is known as a versatile sideman, Sam is also developing a personal sound as a solo artist. Through his rich exposure to varying types of music, as well as having abilities on many instruments, Sam hopes to express himself and connect with others through his music. As a composer, Fournier has a deep understanding of harmony, all while delivering melodies that are simple, yet memorable. He explores elements of grief, love, hope, and community through his work. Sam believes that music should be accessible to all, regardless of education or economic status, with the goal of decolonizing the art form while maintaining his personal artistic voice.

Sam Fournier was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Matt Smith is a trumpet player and composer hailing from Perth, Western Australia. Matt is a keen contributor to Perth’s vibrant music scene, performing regularly with Brass Party, Mace Francis Orchestra, PROOF, Odette Mercy and her Soul Atomics, Crucial Rockers, Steve Hensby Band, Perth Cabaret Collective, De Cuba Son, Pete Jeavons Nonet amongst others. In 2023 Matt released his debut album, Driftwood, a collection of eleven compositions for large and small ensembles inspired by the landscapes and memories of growing up in the South West region of Western Australia.

Matt Smith was generously supported by the John W. Kieley Endowment for Emerging Musicians.

MAYSUN is a composer and sound artist known for his unique blend of drumming expertise and sound design, creating immersive atmospheric soundscapes. With a focus on the use of physical space to shape and manipulate sounds, he crafts compositions that serve as soundtracks to his life events.

MAYSUN's work is characterized by an innovative approach that transforms real-life sounds into musical tones, skillfully interweaving the dimensions of time and space within its compositions. His artistic journey is driven by a deep passion for exploring spatial audio and a desire to create meaningful emotional connections through his music. MAYSUN’s latest release, 'Timelines,' represents his ongoing commitment to the craft of sound artistry, inviting listeners on a deep ambient introspective journey.

In addition to his artistic pursuits, MAYSUN has been serving on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC) since 2023, he is also a proud member of the international artist collective Inland Ocean and has been selected for the prestigious 2024 ITP/IMA Fellowship at New York University.

MAYSUN [Etienne Mason] was generously supported by Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Michael J Brady (he/him) is a Sydney-based musician who traverses jazz, folk and indie music making. Working primarily a guitarist; he draws on effects, voice, and multiple instruments as a means of exploring and sharing sound. 

Since 2016 he has led the Michael J Brady Trio, exploring shifting textures within the improvised trio format. The group have toured the Australian East Coast four times, collaborating with artists including Sandy Evans, Sasha Gavlek, and Flora Carbo. Michael released his debut album ‘Brady//Donkin//Phipps’ with the group in late 2023. He is also a founding member in indie-rock outfit Jackie Brown Jr, working as a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has completed four tours with the group, releasing two Eps.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Music (honours)/Bachelor of Education having studied at the University of New South Wales (2018) and completed an exchange semester at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University (2015). Since his studies he has taken part in the Australian Art Orchestra’s 2021 Creative Music Intensive and the 2023 Siena Jazz University International Jazz Workshop. In 2023 Michael and his trio were artists in residence at the University of New South Wales Creative Practice lab.

Michael Brady was generously supported by the Repsol Emerging Artists Award.