Jasmine Netsena wins first SOCAN Foundation Indigenous Songwriter Award
TD Bank Group contributes $10,000 for inaugural honour
WINNIPEG, May 22, 2018 /CNW/ - The SOCAN Foundation, part of the SOCAN Group of organizations, in partnership with TD Bank Group, presented its very first Indigenous Songwriter Award to Jasmine Netsena at the 2018 Indigenous Music Awards.
SOCAN member Netsena, from Fort Nelson, BC, received the award ? which included a $10,000 cash prize, and airfare and accommodations to attend the award ceremonies in Winnipeg ? from Charlie Wall-Andrews, Executive Director of SOCAN Foundation, and Tim Laronde, Regional Manager of Indigenous Banking at TD.
"I feel honoured to be selected for this award, and very grateful to everyone who worked to make this happen," said Netsena.
"This new award recognizes artistic excellence in songwriting achieved by an Indigenous music creator in Canada, and we're proud to be able to partner with TD and the Indigenous Music Awards to celebrate Jasmine Netsena," said Wall-Andrews. "It's part of our ongoing, mutual effort with TD to foster, promote and diversify opportunities for music creators of Indigenous descent. We're aiming to build inclusive grant and awards programming as diverse as the communities in which we live."
The Jury encompassed SOCAN Members: ShoShona Kish (Ontario), Alan Greyeyes (Manitoba), Celina Kalluk (Nunavut), and Moe Clark (Québec). The jury reviewed nearly 200 submissions.
Applications to the 2019 TD Indigenous Songwriter Awards will open in the late fall of 2018; visit www.socanfoundation.ca for more information about programs and awards.
About Jasmine Netsena
Music is Jasmine Netsena's first language. From the age of five, the award-winning singer-songwriter, of the Dene and Tahltan Nations, learned to sing from her grandmothers in their Indigenous languages. Classical voice training only strengthened that bedrock, and Jasmine has been honing her songwriting and guitar skills for close to 15 years now. Jasmine released her debut album, Take You with Me, in 2014. For her second record, she uses her voice to uncover long-buried issues. The daughter of a residential school survivor, Jasmine wants to use music to add to the dialogue of inter-generational healing. Jasmine has charmed audiences in New York City, Nashville and across Canada. In 2014, she won Best Folk/Acoustic Album in the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, and was nominated for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. She's been featured on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) show Rising Stars, and has performed at the Grand Ole Northern Opry with Grammy Award winner Laurie Lewis. www.jasminenetsena.com
About The SOCAN Foundation
Founded in 1992, the SOCAN Foundation is dedicated to fostering musical creativity and promoting a better understanding of the role of music creators in today's society. The organization is a part of the SOCAN Group of organizations and guided by a Board of Directors, which consists of composers, songwriters and music publishers, and reflects concert music and popular music genres, as well as the geographic and linguistic regions of Canada. To learn more about the SOCAN Foundation and SOCAN, visit www.socanfoundation.ca and www.socan.com.
About TD Community Giving
TD Bank Group invests in communities in order to effect positive change in the places where it operates and where its clients and employees live and work. In 2017, TD donated more than $107 million to support community organizations in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. For further information, visit www.td.com/corporateresponsibility
SOURCE SOCAN
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