RCM Community recognized in a wide range of categories for the 2023 JUNO Awards

Nominations for the 2023 JUNO Awards have been announced by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and, once again, several members of The Royal Conservatory community as well as many Koerner Hall artists are among the list of celebrated Canadian musicians, singers, songwriters, and producers.

ARC Ensemble (Artists of The Royal Conservatory) is nominated for Classical Album of the Year (Small Ensemble) for their latest “Music in Exile” series recording featuring the music of persecuted Sephardic composer Alberto Hemsi. The mission of the ARC Ensemble is to research and recover works that were suppressed and marginalized under the 20th century's repressive regimes. This is their fourth JUNO nomination.

In the Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist) category, pianist Philip Chiu, an alumnus of The Taylor Academy, is nominated for this album titled Fables, which features a work by Anishinaabekwe composer Barbara Assiginaak. GGS alumni Isabel Bayrakdarian and David Jalbert are also nominated.

Two original compositions — one by Bekah Simms, a Koerner Hall artist, and one by Vincent Ho, an RCM alumnus and composer of ARCT Concert Etudes in the RCM Piano Syllabus, 2022 Edition, are nominated for Classical Composition of the Year.

The following RCM alumni, Honorary Fellows, and Koerner Hall artists have also been nominated for this year’s JUNO Awards:

• ARC Ensemble (Artists of The Royal Conservatory) for Music in Exile, Vol. 6: Chamber Works by Alberto Hemsi (Classical Album of the Year, Small Ensemble)
• Philp Chiu (alumnus of The Taylor Academy) for Fables (Classical Album of the Year, Solo Artist)
• Vincent Ho (RCM alumnus and composer of ARCT Concert Etudes in the RCM Piano Syllabus, 2022 Edition) for Supervillain Études (Classical Composition of the Year)
• Isabel Bayrakdarian (GGS alumna and Koerner Hall artist) for La Zingarella: Through Romany Songland (Classical Album of the Year, Solo Artist)
• David Jalbert (GGS alumnus) for Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 1 (Classical Album of the Year, Solo Artist)
• Arkells (Mike De Angelis, Nick Dika, and Dan Griffin, RCM alumni) nominated for Group of the Year Presented by SiriusXM Canada
• Tate McRae (RCM alumna) TikTok JUNO Fan Choice Award; for she’s all I wanna be (Single of the Year); for i used to think i could fly (Album of the Year; Songwriter of the Year presented by SOCAN; and Pop Album of the Year)
• collectif9 (including RCM alumni Chloé Chabanole, violin; John Corban, violin; and Andrea Stewart, cello) for Vagues et ombres (Classical Album of the Year, Small Ensemble)
• Bekah Simms (Koerner Hall artist) for Bestiary I & II (Classical Composition of the Year), which had its world premiere with The GGS New Music Ensemble at The Royal Conservatory's 21C Music Festival
• Nicole Lizée (Koerner Hall artist) for Prayers for Ruins (Classical Composition of the Year)
• Jean-Michel Blais (Koerner Hall artist) for aublades (Instrumental Album of the Year)
• Andrew Balfour (Koerner Hall artist) for Nagamo (Classical Album of the Year, Small Ensemble)
• James Ehnes (Koerner Hall artist) for Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (Classical Album of the Year, Solo Artist)
• Bruce Liu (Koerner Hall artist) for Winner of the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Warsaw 2021 (Classical Album of the Year, Solo Artist)

The 52nd Annual JUNO Awards and JUNO Week 2023 will take place in Edmonton, AB from Thursday, March 9 through Monday, March 13, 2023, culminating with The JUNO Awards Broadcast hosted by RCM alumnus Simu Liu.

Read the complete list of nominees