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March 16, 2023

Three talented graduates of the Independent Music Production (IMP) program were at the top of the Canadian music world this week as nominees for the Juno Awards.

was co-nominated in the Children’s Album of the Year category for Maestro Fresh Wes Presents Julia the Great.

While a departure from the rap projects that have defined her career, this is Ms. Freshh’s second children’s album following 2021’s Young Maestro School Days.

“I still stick to my artistry and traditional hip hop, but this is an addition to what I do,” she said. “I love working with kids.”

Ms. Freshh voices Julia, a character introduced in Young Maestro School Days. Both entries in the “Young Maestro multiverse,” as Ms. Freshh calls it with a chuckle, contain positive messages for children about the importance of family, friendship and education.

For , this is the second time he’s been nominated for a Juno. He was previously up for Producer of the Year in 2020 but never got the full Junos experience because the ceremony was cancelled on short notice due to COVID-19.

This time around, he was nominated for Recording Engineer of the Year for his work on the songs My Body by Lili-Ann De Francesco and Stronger Than You Know by The East Pointers.

Mr. Hoffman called Stronger Than You Know “a feat of engineering,” as he shaped it out of individual recordings sent to him by the band members from their home in Prince Edward Island – all without ever meeting in person.

The Toronto-based producer, engineer and composer tries to give back to the ����vlog���� program that helped set him up for success by regularly volunteering as a guest speaker. He’s also busy in the studio, working with all sorts of artists — from rock stars like Arkells to emerging bands like New Friends.

“I love the variety of what I get to do,” he said. “It’s really what keeps me fresh and excited.”

Luna Li was nominated for Alternative Album of the Year for her full-length debut Duality, which she worked on for four years while also teaching at her mother’s music school.

The title of the album is a nod to Ms. Li’s Canadian-Korean identity and the mixing of her background in classical music with the more contemporary sound she developed while at ����vlog����.

“I wrote a lot about loneliness and looking for belonging,” she said. “But I also wrote a lot about celebration and acceptance.”

The success of Duality has extended beyond Canada. Ms. Li toured Europe last November, performing 14 shows in eight countries, and she recently made her Asian debut in Singapore.

Now, Ms. Li is working on a follow-up album, is booked to play the Hillside Festival in Guelph in July and is hoping to schedule more shows in southern Ontario this summer.

The Junos were awarded on Monday, March 13.��