Each year the finest of Folk Music is celebrated at the Ontario Folk Music Awards.
This year, we honoured our nominees and winners at an awards gala on Sunday, October 16th, 2022, at the Aeolian Hall in London, Ontario.
2022
- Song of the Year: Sultans of String, Mi Santuario
- Album of the Year: Jeremy Voltz, Weekender
- ACTRA/RACS Recording Artist of the Year: Jaffa Road
- Performing Artist of the Year: Amanda Rheaume
- Colleen Peterson Award: Camie
- Estelle Klein Award: Multiple: Ian Bell, Rodney Brown, Alfredo Caxaj, Brian Gladstone, Graham Lindsey, Lillian Wauthier, Lorie Adi Wolf, David Woodhead
- Taylor Mitchell Bursary: Oddeline
SELECTION PROCEDURE
Each award has its own jury. Each jury is comprised of industry professionals and includes a representative from the sponsor, where possible. All efforts are made to keep the judging fair. All awards require a minimum of five applications in order to be active.
General Eligibility Requirements:
- All final nominees are required to be members of Folk Music Ontario (Individual or Organization status) in good standing. Within a Group or Duo at least 50% of the contributing members are required to be members of Folk Music Ontario (Individual or Organization status) in good standing, notwithstanding the definitions outlined in the above exemptions.
- Eligibility Period: January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021
- Lyrics may be presented/sung in any language
- Artist or 50% of Duo/Group must reside in Ontario or the National Capital Region (see map)
- One physical trophy is awarded per award category, regardless of size of group.
NOTE: Members may not submit on behalf of non-members.
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Song of the Year
(Formerly known as the ‘Songs From the Heart’ Award)
The Song of the Year Award is presented by Folk Music Ontario. The Song of the Year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award recognizes an artist whose music demonstrates excellence in the craft of songwriting. A songwriter writing alone or in collaboration with others is eligible, as long as one (1) is a current resident of Ontario. A song does not need to contain lyrics to be eligible. Songs submitted must have been released, in any format, during the eligibility period. This award goes only to the composer(s) of the song.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Must have resided continuously in Ontario for at least one year prior to application
- Submission must have original music and lyrics
- Lyric sheets MUST NOT include artist name; if they do the application will be disqualified.
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Album of the Year
The Album of the Year Award is presented by Folk Music Ontario. This award is presented to the act (solo, duo or group) for an Ontario Folk Music album, which was released for mass public consumption in its entirety, within the current eligibility period. An album is defined as a collection of several pieces of music made available as a single item. The album can be a special project or commemorative package. Voters and jury members should give consideration to all aspects, including but not limited to, market impact (e.g. sales, spins, YouTube views), artistic performance, production, design, art layout and liner notes. This award is for an album as a whole unit. The award recognizes winners with a $1000 prize.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Album may be presented in any language.
- Album must have more than 5 tracks, or have 30+ minutes of recorded music.
- Must be a professional artist (someone who has developed skills through training and/or practice and who is recognized as such by artists working in the same artistic tradition, and has a history of public presentation or publication)
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ACTRA RACS Recording Artist of the Year
The Recording Artist of the Year was established in 2017 and is sponsored by ACTRA-RACS (Recording Artists’ Collecting Society). This award recognizes the overall artistic performance of a recording artist in the folk, roots, or blues genres. The winner will receive $1000.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Open to solo, duo, or group acts on a recording
- Both instrumental and vocal recordings are eligible
- Must submit two tracks that best represent range and performance capability
- Recording(s) must have been released in previous calendar year (i.e., January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020 for the 2021 award). Proof of release is required with a link to webpage that has recording available to the public. (e.g. link to Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify, CD Baby)
- Recording must be in folk, roots, or blues genres
- Artist must be Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada and must have resided in Canada for at least 12 months prior to application. If act has multiple members, at least 50% must meet this criterion
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Performing Artist of the Year
The Performing Artist of the Year Award is presented by Folk Music Ontario, and recognizes outstanding contributions in live performance. This award is presented to the Ontario act (solo, duo or group) displaying the greatest achievements in all facets of entertainment, including but not limited to: live concert performance, touring, continuing to entertain during the pandemic (backyard concerts, drive-in shows, online shows, and live streams), vocal and instrumental performance, fan engagement, leadership and overall impact to the Canadian Folk Music industry, within the current eligibility period. The award recognizes winners with a $1000 prize
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Must be a professional artist (someone who has developed skills through training and/or practice and who is recognized as such by artists working in the same artistic tradition, and has a history of public presentation or publication)
- Must have resided continuously in Ontario for at least one year prior to application (applicable to artist or 50% of duo/group)
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Colleen Peterson Award
The Colleen Peterson Award was established by the Ontario Arts Council in 2003 to celebrate the work of an emerging professional singer-songwriter of any age in honour of Colleen Peterson’s contribution to Canadian folk and country music.
The award is given to an emerging Ontario singer/songwriter in the genres of roots, traditional, folk and country music. The winner receives $1000 plus a registration for that year’s Folk Music Ontario conference.
ABOUT COLLEEN PETERSON
Colleen had a soaring voice, engaging stage presence and a proven songwriting talent. The recipient of two Juno Awards, Colleen collaborated with a long list of folk, roots and country musicians, and was a founding member of the celebrated group Quartette.
After a year-long battle with cancer, Colleen passed away at the age of 45 in 1996, and was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Must be an emerging artist of any age but with a maximum of 10 years’ experience as a professional musician
- Must be a professional artist (someone who has developed skills through training and/or practice, and is recognized as such by artists working in the same artistic tradition, and has a history of public presentation or publication, and seeks payment for their work and actively practises their art, with short breaks in artistic work history allowed)
- Must have resided continuously in Ontario for at least one year prior to application
- Must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada
- Must be an individual singer-songwriter; co-writes by collectives or ensembles are NOT eligible for submission
- Submission must have original music and lyrics
- Must NOT be a previous winner of the Colleen Peterson Award and isn’t one of the current year’s winners of a Songs from the Heart Award.
- Must also apply for a Songs From The Heart Award in the Roots or Singer-Songwriter category. The OAC does not directly accept submissions for this award
- Only one song per songwriter will be considered for the Colleen Peterson Award. (i.e. if a songwriter has two songs in the top six, only the top scoring song will remain in the competition.)
- Lyric sheets MUST NOT include artist name; if they do the application will be disqualified
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Estelle Klein Award
The Estelle Klein Award honours the work of an individual or group that has made significant contributions to Ontario’s folk music community. The award is named after Estelle Klein, a long-time advocate of Canadian folk music and one of the early founders of the folk festival scene in this country.
Winners are recognized with a registration for that year’s Folk Music Ontario conference for themselves and a partner as well as a lifetime FMO membership. The winner is also featured in the Conference Program edition of Folk Prints magazine, at an interview at the FMO Awards brunch, and in a career retrospective video.
NOMINATION REQUIREMENTS
- Any FMO member may submit a nomination
- Nominee must be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident
- Nominee must have made a significant contribution to Ontario’s folk music community
- Nominator Statement – why the nominator believes this individual or group should be considered (1000 words max)
- Bio of achievements (250 words max)
- Links to support material – press, recordings, etc. (2 max)
- Website link
- Nominee contact info
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Taylor Mitchell Bursary
The Taylor Mitchell Bursary was established in 2010 by Emily Mitchell, in memory of her daughter, Canadian songwriter Taylor Mitchell. Initially funded for five years (2010-2014), the bursary received additional funding, allowing it to be awarded through the 2019 conference and beyond. The bursary is to support one participant in the Performer Stream of the Developing Artist Program who might otherwise be prevented from taking part.
The bursary recipient receives up to $500 towards costs associated with attending the FMO conference and participating in the Performer Stream of the Developing Artist Program.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Must be nominated for the bursary by a teacher/community member/mentor, in light of the goals of the bursary program.
- Must be selected as a participant of the Performer Stream of the Developing Artist Program. Participants will be given the option to apply for the bursary in their application (Apply here)
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