Colleen Allen

Colleen Allen is one of Canada's most in-demand musicians for live concerts and recording sessions. Based in Toronto, the acclaimed and versatile multi-instrumentalist has performed all over Canada, the U.S. and Europe with world class jazz and pop artists. Known for her warm, authentic tone and soulful style of soloing, she works frequently with Brian Barlow's Big Band, Cirque du Soleil, is a resident artist at Soulpepper Theatre, and a member of Manteca, Canada’s premier fusion jazz big band. She has been in the house band of the Toronto Blues Society’s Women’s Blues Revue since its inception in 1986.

Colleen is a beloved mentor and teacher of music for 15 years now at Humber College and a regular adjudicator/clinician for musicfest, the TD jazz education festival in Picton and has recently been the artistic director for the Port Hope Jazz Festival. 

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Christian Overton

Christian Overton is proud Yamaha musician and one of the most in demand trombonists and composers in Toronto in every scene from jazz and rock to salsa, R&B, theatre work and everything in between.  Christian has launched Clovertone Music Publishing, an innovative sheet music publishing company designed to get customized Canadian material in to the classroom and connect today’s professional musicians with the next generation.

He is currently on Faculty at the University of Toronto and Humber Polytechnic. He has nominated for a 2017 Juno award for “Sweet Canadiana” by Jens Lindemann and the Order of Canada Band and in 2021 & 2024 with The Carn Davidson 9. Christian also played on the 2023 Juno Award Winning Album “Cry Me A River” with Hilario Duran and his Latin Big Band

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Duncan Hopkins

Double bassist, composer and arranger Duncan Hopkins has been working at the highest levels of jazz for almost thirty years. In that time he has worked with such luminaries as Norma Winstone, Rob McConnell, Scott Hamilton, Houston Person, Peter Appleyard, Ed Bickert, Mark Murphy, Bobo Stenson, Dianna Krall, Sheila Jordan, Kenny Wheeler, Bobby Watson, Sam Rivers, Harry Allen and Edward Simon to name but a few. Duncan was  a member of Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass and the highly distinguished Canadian Jazz Quartet for ten years before moving to Europe. Duncan has toured extensively throughout Canada, Great Britain, Europe, Brazil and the United States. He can be heard on over fifty albums, numerous CBC, BBC and NPR recordings. He is a long standing member of the jazz education group the Global Music Foundation and continues to be Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. 

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Josh Grossman

Since graduating from the University of Toronto's Jazz Performance Program, Josh Grossman has gained a wealth of experience in the worlds of music performance and administration. As a trumpeter, Josh has performed in big bands under the direction of Phil Nimmons, Paul Read, Ron Collier and Paul Ashwell; he has performed with the Chris Hunt Tentet since its inception in 2002. Josh is the founding Artistic Director and Conductor for the Toronto Jazz Orchestra (TJO), an 18-piece big band featuring some of Toronto's top jazz talent. Since January, 2010 Josh has been Artistic Director for Toronto Downtown Jazz (TDJ), which each year presents the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, one of Canada's largest international music festivals. 

Learn More About Josh Here