The 2023 JUNO Award nominations have been announced, and a look at the classical music categories is a tribute to the resilience of the sector in Canada. Post-pandemic, the depth of talent showcased across four categories, along with the Instrumental Album of the Year, includes international stars as well as local heroes.
Here’s a look at the nominations.
Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist) / Album classique de l’année (solo)
- Winner of the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Warsaw 2021 Bruce Liu (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal)
- Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 David Jalbert (ATMA/Universal)
- La Zingarella: Through Romany Songland Isabel Bayrakdarian (AVIE/Naxos)
- Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin James Ehnes (Onyx/PIAS America/The Orchard)
- Fables Philip Chiu (ATMA/Universal)
Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble) / Album classique de l’année (grand ensemble)
- Clara — Robert — Johannes: Lyrical Echoes Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Shelley (Analekta/F.A.B./The Orchard)
- Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 Ensemble Caprice, Ensemble Vocal Arts-Quebec, conducted by Matthias Maute, featuring Karina Gauvin (Leaf Music/Naxos)
- Richard Strauss: Metamorphosen — Arvo Pärt: Symphonie No. 4, “Los Angeles” I Musici de Montréal, conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni (ATMA/Universal)
- Viola Borealis Orchestre de l’Agora, conducted by Nicolas Ellis, featuring Marina Thibeault (ATMA/Universal)
- Radiant Dawn: Music for Advent and Christmas The Elora Singers, conducted by Mark Vuorinen (Independent)
Classical Album of the Year (Small Ensemble) / Album classique de l’année (petit ensemble)
- Nagamo Andrew Balfour and musica intima (Redshift/Independent)
- Hemsi: Chamber Works ARC Ensemble (Chandos/Naxos/PIAS)
- Vagues et ombres collectif9 (Alpha/Independent)
- Early Italian Cello Concertos Elinor Frey and Rosa Barocca, conducted by Claude Lapalme (Analekta/F.A.B./The Orchard)
- De la cour de Louis XIV à Shippagan! Chants traditionnels acadiens et airs de cour du XVIIe siècle Suzie LeBlanc, Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, Vincent Lauzer, and Sylvain Bergeron (ATMA/Universal)
Classical Composition of the Year / Composition classique de l’année
- An Overall Augmented Sense of Well-being Anthony Tan (Independent)
- Bestiary I & II Bekah Simms (Centrediscs/Naxos)
- The Black Fish Keyan Emami (Centrediscs/Naxos)
- Prayers for Ruins Nicole Lizée (Analekta/F.A.B./The Orchard)
- Supervillain Études Vincent Ho (Navona/Naxos)
The instrumental album category blurs the lines into classical crossover, with many names familiar to classical music lovers.
Instrumental Album of the Year / Album instrumental de l’année
- Canadiana Canadian Brass (Linus/Universal/IDLA)
- Everything Was Forever Until It Was No More Esmerine (Constellation/Secretly)
- Iguana Hard Rubber Orchestra (Redshift/Independent)
- aubades Jean-Michel Blais (Arts & Crafts/Universal)
- Lionheart Stephan Moccio (Decca/Universal)
The nominees for pop and other genres included the usual suspects: The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye), Shawn Mendes, and Avril Lavigne, among others.
Best of luck to all the nominees.
The full list of 2023 JUNO nominations can be found here.
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Anya Wassenberg is a Toronto City Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an experienced freelance writer, blogger and writing instructor.
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