[intro]The Heather Bambrick Quintet perform SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2013, 3:15 pm to 4:15 pm on the Bell Main Stage. This is a free concert.[/intro]
Heather Bambrick (Vocalist of the Year / Broadcaster of the Year, National Jazz Awards) is in demand as a performer, educator, and broadcaster. She has worked with a vast array of artists, including Phil Nimmons, Kenny Wheeler, Fred Hirsch, Gene DiNovi, Guido Basso, Lea Delaria, Peter Appleyard, Anne Hampton Callaway, John Lamb, Ian Shaw, Carol Welsman, Jackie Richardson, Denzal Sinclaire, and the late Rob McConnell.
Heather has recorded with acts ranging from the Royal Jelly Orchestra and the Caliban Quartet, to Carol Welsman and Peter Appleyard. She was a founding member of the Downbeat Award winning Beehive Singers, performing throughout North America in support of their self-titled recording.
Her own debut CD It’s About Time (2003) was nominated for Best Jazz Recording at the 2004 East Coast Music Awards and received international praise and radio airplay. Her follow-up recording, Those Were The Days, was also nominated for Best Jazz Recording at the 2007 East Coast Music Awards. She and theatre great Rudy Webb were featured on “This Is Love”, the music of Irving Berlin and award winning actor, musician, and songwriter, the late Irving Dobbs.
Heather is also one of several top Canadian Jazz vocalists featured on Peter Appleyard’s recent release “Sophisticated Ladies”. Most recently, Heather joined forces with Dora-Award nominated music director Diane Leah, and Jazz vocalist Julie Michels to form “Broadsway”: a group that features these uber-talented ladies performing music from Jazz to Pop to Musical Theatre, all in their own unique way. In the summer of 2013, they released their debut recording “Old Friends” to critical praise. They are currently performing in support of this album.
On stage, Heather is a consummate entertainer, performing for appreciative crowds at venues across Canada and in the US, and bringing audiences to their feet at some of the country’s most prestigious music festivals. Her live shows are a combination of timeless songs, brilliant musicianship, and Heather’s unique sense of humour – all adding up to pure entertainment.
Heather’s voice has been heard throughout North America on radio and television commercials, in animation series (Disney, PBS, Comedy Network), as well as on film and television soundtracks. Since 2001, Heather has firmly entrenched herself in the world of broadcasting, producing and hosting the highly popular “Sunday Afternoon Jazz”, and later “Dinner Jazz” on Canada’s only all-Jazz radio station, JAZZ.FM91. She is currently the producer and host of “Wake Up … with Heather Bambrick”, JAZZ.FM91’s morning show. Heather has twice been named Broadcaster of the Year at the National Jazz Awards.
The native Newfoundlander is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, and has instructed at both at U of T and Humber College. Outside of the classroom, Heather is busy as a clinician and adjudicator at schools and music festivals across Canada.