Humber leaves their mark at 2016 Juno Awards

Apr 4, 2016 | Arts

By HumberNews

Christiana Chan

The Weeknd may have cleaned up the awards last night at the 2016 Juno Awards, but Humber College left a mark on the Canadian music event.

Humber students, faculty and alumni rewarded for their many talents, winning nine out of seventeen nominations.

“Its an incredible accomplishment to everybody here in the music program,” said Denny Christianson the director of music at Humber College.

“I’m immensely proud of our students, there was tons of alumni and faculty members who were also recipients last night.”

Among the winners was Humber alumnus Emilie-Claire Barlow winning Vocal Jazz Album of the year.

Buffy Sainte-Marie, whose band includes Humber faculty member Drew Jurecka, walked away with two wins in Aboriginal Album of the Year and Contemporary Roots Album of the Year.

Humber’s music program has been gaining a positive reputation for leading students towards very successful careers in the music industry.

“It is designed to provide them with the skill set to help them succeed in todays modern and constantly changing music business,” said Christianson.

“It just shows the strength and diversity of the Humber music program and the quality of the students, faculty and curriculum.”

Former Humber student Janelle Dewhurst , better known as Jmondew, sang back up with jazz musician Shawn Hooks last night. She applauded the efforts that Humber College has made towards their students.

“One of the best things of going through Humber is the networking opportunities,” said Jmondew. “It was also a time I focused on my craft as a performer so that when I left school I felt better equipped to go after the kinds of gigs I wanted to do.”

          Congrats to @HumberMusic alumnus @joel_cassady from @WalkOffTheEarth on your win! #Junoshttps://t.co/nAgckfOL6Z

          — Humber Alumni (@HumberAlumni) April 3, 2016