Community News
BABIES IN THE HOUSE!
Congratulation to musicians ELIANA CUEVAS and JEREMY LEDBETTER who welcomed Día Maribel Cuevas Ledbetter into their lives in Toronto on April 26th at 12:24am and who weighed 3.4 Kg. Big sister Leila Isabel Cuevas Ledbetter is delighted with her new little sister.
(photo credit: Maria Paz Lira)
Congratulations are also extended to mbira player MOYO MUTAMBA and his partner NADIA SAAD on the birth of their son Shems Tapiwanashe Mutamba on March 28 2015.
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE
And as it is with the birth of new life, we have also had to say goodbye to so many gifted artists recently. The loss of California-based visionary Indian kathak dancer PANDIT CHITRESH DAS on January 4, 2015 at the age of 70 touched many of us in Toronto as well as the rest of the world. Brother of Toronto’s own tabla master RITESH DAS and guru of JOANNA DE SOUZA, Chitresh was a world renowned kathak dancer and teacher who worked tirelessly right up until his moment of passing. Celebrations of his life and work were held in California and Toronto.
Since the loss of his brother, Ritesh Das is even more committed to carrying on his family traditions by establishing Nritya Bharati Global. Of this he says: “ Finally getting closer in fulfilling a long time dream of reinventing the legacy of Nritya Bharati Institution founded by my parents Nrityacharaya Prohlad Das and Smt Nilima Das in Kolkata, which was not only one of a kind of Music and Dance Institution in Kolkata but it also produced many talents including the Kathak legend Pundit Chitresh Das. Hereby proudly announcing the starting of Nritya Bharati Global, an International School of World Art Forms headquartered in Toronto with branches in Colorado and Kolkata. More details will follow soon. Need all your wishes and blessings going forward.”
CANADIAN MUSIC HISTORY WALKING TOURS!
Music journalist Nick Jenning is providing some fascinating walking tours this summer. “Discover the music history of Toronto’s Yonge Street, beginning in the 1950s. Visit the sites of famous clubs like The Colonial, Friar, and Le Coq D’Or, and concert venues such as Massey Hall and the Eaton Auditorium. Hear stories about Oscar Peterson, Ronnie Hawkins, Glenn Gould and many more.” See http://heritagetoronto.org/event/music-history-on-the-yonge-street-strip-june-17/
TURKISH DELIGHT!
JAASH SINGH has received an individual music study grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and will be studying for the summer in Istanbul with musicians and percussion masters including Raquy Danzinger. After this he will be heading to Europe to tour in the fall with the Lemon Bucket Orkestra. Jaash is a percussionist specializing in live performance, studio recordings, theatre and television. He plays a variety of instruments including drum kit, doumbek, tapan, cajon, and more. Jaash plays a wide variety of styles in numerous projects including Zephyr, Nomadica, Ventanas, and the Lemon Bucket Orkestra
AWARDS SEASON FOR OUR RICHLY DESERVING ARTISTES
QUIQUE ESCAMILLA (Chiapas, Mexico/Canada) was the proud recipient of the 2015 JUNO award for World Music Album of the Year for 500 Years of Night.
TANYA TAGAQ ( was honoured at the 2015 JUNO Awards with the JUNO for Aboriginal Album of the Year for Animism.
EMMANUEL JAL (South Sudan/Canada) recently received the BLACK CANADIAN AWARD for BEST AFRICAN STYLE.
RON KORB’s “House of Five Beauties” from his new release Asia Beauty has won Silver medals – GLOBAL MUSIC AWARDS for Chinese Crossover World Music and the album has won for album art/design. See http://www.globalmusicawards.com/ Also the song “Two Mountains” has won Best Song (Instrumental/Ballad) from The Akademia Music Awards. See http://www.theakademia.com/
DARRELL DENNIS, writer, actor and radio personality, will be presented with the $5,000 Periodical Marketers of Canada Aboriginal Literature Award for his excellent book Peace Pipe Dreams: The Truth About Lies About Indians (Douglas & McIntyre) during the National Aboriginal Day celebrations at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square on June 24.
See the TWAS review of this book by Lise Watson here http://http://www.twasonline.com/ezine-fall-2014/book-review-peace-pipe-dreams-the-truth-about-lies-about-indians/
MUMBI TINDYEDBWA (Kenya/Canada) has won the 2015 PAULINE MCGIBBON AWARD at the DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS. Mumbi is an acclaimed theatre director. She is the founder and artistic director of IFT (It’s A Freedom Thing) Theatre, Mumbi is a Kenyan-born, Toronto-based theatre creator and director. She is currently the co-director for the AMY (Artists Mentoring Youth) Project and was a 2015 artist-in-residence at the University of Toronto.
TWAS congratulates nominees and winners alike!
