When the JUNO Awards return to Halifax on Mar. 24, 2024, there will be a healthy dose of homegrown talent in the running for silverware. Six current and former Haligonians are up for JUNOs at the annual Canadian music industry awards ceremony: Reggae artist Jah’Mila, indie-electronic act Rich Aucoin, classical soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan, composers Amy Brandon and Jérôme Blais, and pianist Dinuk Wijeratne.
A Halifax-based singer-songwriter by way of Kingston, Jamaica, Jah’Mila earns her first JUNO nomination for Roots Girl—an album we hailed as one of the year’s best releases when it came out in 2022. The album is in the running for “Reggae Recording of the Year,” alongside releases from Ammoye, Exco Levi, Kirk Diamond & Finn and Omega Mighty.
Aucoin—who, believe it or not, used to deliver newspapers for The Coast—adds another nomination to his resume for last year’s Synthetic Season 2, the second installment in a quadruple-album on which the north end Halifax producer promises “more synths than any album in history.” He’s in the running for “Electronic Album of the Year,” alongside artists Bambii, Harrison, Kid Koala and Tim Hecker.
Waverley’s Barbara Hannigan, meanwhile, is up for “Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist)” for her 2023 album Infinite Voyage: A collaboration with the New York-based Emerson String Quartet. The honour is just the latest in a decorated career for the classical soprano and conductor; Hannigan was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2016.
Brandon and Wijeratne are both in the running for “Classical Composition of the Year.” The former teaches composition at Dalhousie University and recorded her award-nominated Simulacra with Symphony Nova Scotia, while the latter calls Ottawa home these days, but used to work as Symphony Nova Scotia’s assistant conductor.
Blais, meanwhile—who also teaches at Dalhousie—co-created the award-nominated album mouvance with Acadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc. It’s in the running for “Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist)” alongside Hannigan’s entry.
Longtime Halifax music lawyer Chip Sutherland to receive special award
This year’s JUNO Awards will have a bit of added local flavour when Halifax music industry giant Lyle “Chip” Sutherland receives the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award. A longtime artist manager and entertainment lawyer, Sutherland’s resume reads like a Hall of Fame entry: Over a 30-year career, he managed both Sloan and The Rankin Family—helping the former in their negotiations with Geffen Records—and also served as legal counsel for the East Coast Music Association, vice-president of the JUNOs and co-founder of Perimeter/Tidemark Records.
A graduate of Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law, Sutherland doubled as the drummer for pop-rock band BlackPool as he started his law career. Since then, he’s worked with the likes of Feist, Alvvays and Mustafa—among others—and became the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ first-ever director from Atlantic Canada.
The award, described as one that “recognizes individuals whose work has significantly impacted the growth and development of the Canadian music industry,” will be presented to Sutherland during the JUNO Opening Night Awards on Mar. 23.
Other JUNO nominees performing in Halifax in 2024
Tuesday’s nominee announcement brings added excitement to a number of upcoming Halifax shows, including performances by Allison Russell, Charlotte Cardin and breakout star Aysanabee.
Russell and Aysanabee perform Mar. 21 at the Light House Arts Centre in the lead-up to the JUNOs, while the Montreal-raised Cardin—nominated for a whopping six awards in 2024—performs at the Light House Arts Centre on Mar. 23. (Cardin is also set to perform during the JUNO Awards ceremony.)
“Songwriter of the Year” and “Contemporary Roots Album of the Year” nominee William Prince performs at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on Mar. 15.
Meanwhile, The Beaches—up for “Group of the Year” and “Rock Album of the Year”—will perform during the JUNO Awards on Mar. 24.
