Being a two-time Olympian and bronze medalist, Charity Williams is no stranger to the big stage. This time, the stage happens to be both literal and metaphorical: it refers to her role as the lead organizer for the inaugural Function Festival, taking place on August...
Jocelyn Pettit charts adventurous new musical paths with Wind Rose album release
Hailing from coastal British Columbia, Jocelyn Pettit is a musician who seeks to connect people through music. Through her work, she celebrates cultural heritage and traditions, and uplifts creativity. Utilizing her talents of fiddle playing, composing, singing, and...
Squamish Constellation Festival Looks to Shine Bright Â
With a void of live music festivals being felt in Squamish, B.C., Kirsten Andrews, Patricia Heintzman and Tamara Stanners all knew they had past experience that could lead to something special, that could help add to the community. With their passion for supporting,...
African Descent Festival offers music, art, food, history and fashion
With the third weekend of July quickly approaching, this also means the 8th annual African Descent Festival at Thornton Park is right around the corner. Since it’s creation in 2015, founder Yasin Kiraga M. and the African Descent Society BC have been offering this...
Mentorship, skills development, and meaningful representation offered to violin and fiddle students at the Serena Eades Academy of Music
Founded in picturesque Roberts Creek by director Serena Eades (herself a veteran 25-year music educator, armed with dual music degrees from the Berklee College and Brandon University), the Serena Eades Academy of Music offers budding violin and fiddle players of all...
Jodie B’s “Human” music video release inspires renewed connection between us and the natural world
As a Kelowna-based artist and producer, Jodie B is equally at home in the realms of alternative hip-hop and blues. Her musical career began on the streets at the age of 3, and has since steadily progressed to encompass regional shows, community events, and...
Blue Light Studio champions process, product, and performance opportunities for B.C. musicians
Since 2010, Blue Light Studio has been a vital resource for B.C.’s music industry. Conceived by founding owner/producer/engineer Kaj Falch-Nielsen as a dedicated East Vancouver resource for music professionals from all walks of life, and specializing in indie, rock,...
OXLIP explores myth, mysticism, and musical legacy through new folk album release
OXLIP is Northern Irish-born singer-songwriter Jayne Trimble’s moniker for the stage. The name is inspired by wildflowers and woodlands evocative of the darkly-windswept British Isles, alongside a host of literary archetypes ripped straight from the Brontë era. OXLIP...
Turning the High Beams on the Sunshine Coast’s musical dreams
When Vineet Miglani and Nidhi Kamboj identified a sustainable means of bringing more live music and art to Gibsons, B.C., they knew it was an opportunity that they couldn’t pass up. Having chosen to forego the rigors of big-city life for a slower pace in the idyllic...
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra bridges musical worlds with “Music From the Heart” on June 11, 2022
Musical collaborations that bridge global gaps can inspire artists and audiences alike to listen their way into a more connected world. Thanks to funding from Amplify BC’s Career Development program in 2022, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) is preparing...
Fort Langley Jazz Festival Announces Headliners
In the wake of two years of pandemic-related delays and postponements, the Odlum Brown Fort Langley Jazz and Arts Festival - a Live Music program funding recipient - is thrilled to announce the headlining acts for its 2022 in-person festival. The roster includes blues...
Headbanging from Stage to Suplex in Armstrong: Live Music program funding enables local metal festival to thrive
In 2009, Jesse Valstar and Bretton Melanson were just two twentysomethings with an idea. 13 years later, they're proudly known as the co-founders of Western Canada’s Armstrong Metal Fest. When Valster returned from a European sojourn that included attendance at...
With support from Amplify BC’s Career Development Program, re:Naissance Opera charts a powerful new course for equity, representation, and relevance
As a field and a medium, opera is facing a systemic reckoning. Concepts like equity, representation, and access are being questioned by producers, artists, and audiences alike. At the heart of this effort lies a fundamental question: In 2022, what stories is opera...
Career Development support enables deep friendship, powerful musicality, and Reconciliation to flourish through The Lake / n’-ha-a-itk
When Heather Pawsey pulled an unpublished and forgotten opera score off of a dusty shelf at the Vancouver branch of the Canadian Music Centre back in 1995, she had no idea that she was setting in motion a chain of events that would ultimately change her life. Nearly...
With support from Amplify BC, Thick as Thieves Entertainment wins back audiences and fosters industry goodwill
Thick as Thieves Entertainment is living proof that, when dovetailed with honesty and transparency, patience and persistence pay off. Originally scheduled for April 4, 2020, their flagship AltiTunes Festival ultimately took place April 2, 2022; the two-year wait...
Amplify BC supports the music industry with $1.5M through Creative BC for Career Development and Record in BC projects
Vancouver, BC (April 13, 2022) - Creative BC proudly announces 121 recipients of Amplify BC grants that will advance the development of local talent across the province’s music and sound recording industry. The $1.5M is being delivered through two programs, with the...
With support from Amplify BC’s Career Development program, OurGlassZoo invites audiences to listen to their way into a more connected world.
When Josias Tschanz and Garrett Woon first crossed paths in Vancouver nearly a decade ago, they were each reeling from some of life’s worst hurdles. Thanks to funding through Amplify BC’s Career Development program, they’ve been able to continually process and...
Investment from Amplify BC’s Music Company Development program enables the Table Tutors DJ Academy to thrive post-pandemic.
For Francis Relly Quilatan and his colleagues at Burnaby’s Table Tutors DJ Academy, the abrupt onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was nothing short of catastrophic. As a music business that brings over 25 years of collective experience to bear in service to its mission –...
Vancouver Filmmakers bring home International Award at SXSW
The music video for Desiree Dawson's Meet You At the Light, directed by Alexander Farah, just won the Grand Jury Winner for Best Music Video at SXSW. This was the only Canadian shortlisted project. The award winning video depicts the relationship between a young woman...
Prestige Guitars creates local jobs, regional impact, and national pride through investment from Amplify BC
Funding Recipient Profile | Amplify BC: Live Music | Prestige Guitars Three of the most popular words over the past two years have been resilience, recovery, and adaptation. Prestige Guitars has taken those words to heart, and is looking to become the third guitar...