2025 Adjudicators

Performances of Juno-nominated singer Heather Bambrick have been described as "Carol Burnett meets Ella Fitzgerald at a Newfoundland kitchen party." Her shows combine music (ranging from Jazz standards and pop classics to Newfoundland folk tunes) along with side-splitting stories and some of the best musicians in Canada.

As one of Canada's top Jazz vocalists, Heather has collaborated with some of the best around, including Rob McConnell, Fred Hirsch, Guido Basso, Phil Nimmons, Ian Shaw, Peter Appleyard, Kenny Wheeler, Larry Coryell, and many others. She's also appeared as a guest performer with various other artists and ensembles, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, the Caliban Bassoon Quartet, and more. Heather is a founding member of both the award-winning Beehive Singers, and the jazz-cabaret group Broadsway.

Heather's solo recordings have each received East Coast Music Award nominations for Jazz Recording of the Year, and her 2017 release You'll Never Know was also nominated for a JUNO Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.

Beyond singing, Heather is one of Canada's top voice actors, voicing characters for national commercial campaigns and several Emmy Award-winning animated series, including Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Doozers, Blues Clues, The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, Justin Time, Superbuns Carl the Collector, and many others. For more than 20 years, now, Heather has been an award-winning host at Canada's only all-jazz radio station JAZZ.FM91, currently hosting two shows, including their weekday morning show as well as Jazzology, an education-based program that shines the spotlight on students pursuing jazz studies programs at post-secondary institutions in and around the Toronto area.

In between all of this, Heather is active as an educator and music education advocate, working with the Coalition for Music Education in Canada, serving as a member of the Advisory Council for Music Canada, as well as on the Board of Directors of Sing! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival and Jazz in Toronto. She has presented workshops and masterclasses for various festivals, school boards, and organizations, including the Kiwanis Music Festival, MusicFest Canada, the Ontario Vocal Festival, Calgary Association for the Development of Music, the Ontario Music Educators' Association, the Erie County of New York Music Association, the Toronto Jazz Festival, the Niagara Jazz Festival, Jazz YYC, Calgary Choralfest, Humber College, the Toronto District School Board, University of Toronto, Washington State University, Mohawk College, Memorial University, Capilano College, and others.