When they handed out the 2023 JUNO Awards, all of us at CKUA were cheering for the winners with Alberta connections.
Tenille Townes won the weekend’s first award: Country Album of the Year for Masquerades. Alberta is proud of you, Tenille, and Grande Prairie is extra proud.
Big congrats to The Bearhead Sisters, a Cree musical trio from Paul First Nation, who won the JUNO for Traditional Indigenous Artist of the Year for their album Unbreakable.
It’s two years in a row for Caity Gyorgy! In 2022, Now Pronouncing was a JUNO-winning EP, and now her debut full-length LP Featuring has won the JUNO for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. Congratulations, Caity.
In the category of Classical Album of the Year (Small Ensemble), cellist Elinor Frey and the Rosa Barocca ensemble were the winners. Rosa Barocca is an Alberta-based ensemble specialising in the performance of baroque music using period instruments. The album is conducted by Red Deer’s Claude Lapalme and it’s entitled Early Italian Cello Concertos. Best wishes to all involved in this remarkable project.
Lethbridge music producer Ron Sakamoto received the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award. He’s worked with some of the biggest names in music, from Keith Urban to The Beach Boys, Shania Twain to Garth Brooks. He’s a legend in southern Alberta, known for his work in the music industry, and his philanthropy. He and his wife Joyce have donated many musical instruments and books to elementary schools, and they fund numerous music scholarships at the University of Lethbridge. Congratulations, Ron!
Rock legends Nickelback have done so much since their beginnings in Hanna, AB in 1995, and now they’ve been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Congratulations to them; their success and staying power in the Canadian music scene and beyond is remarkable.
For the full list of 2023 JUNO winners, go to junoawards.ca
