Angel Baribeau Wins WoF Emerging Musician Grand Prize
Montreal singer-songwriter Angel Baribeau is the 2021 Grand Prize winner of Canada's Walk Of Fame RBC Emerging Musician Program.
By Nick Krewen
Montreal singer-songwriter Angel Baribeau is the 2021 Grand Prize winner of Canada's Walk Of Fame RBC Emerging Musician Program.
In addition to capturing the $20K grand prize, Baribeau - who identifies as queer, non-binary and Indigenous - will also receive Canada's Walk of Fame event performance opportunities and private studio recording sessions at Mississauga's Metalworks Studios.
But Baribeau wasn't the only winner of the Ninth Annual Canada's Walk Of Fame RBC Emerging Musician Program: four other musicians also picked up prizes. Oakville, Ontario-based second prize winners YASSiN and Sean Terrio received $6K and the three remaining finalists - Winnipeg's Boogey the Beat; Toronto's GRAE and Vancouver's Madison Olds, receive $4K apiece.
However, all finalists will also enjoy the following: online mentoring sessions with Canada's Walk Of Fame inductee and multiple Juno Award-winner Sarah McLachlan; a dedicated artist page on the newly launched EmergingMusician.ca website, the official website of Canada's Walk Of Fame RBC Emerging Artist Program; $2000 towards the creation of a live-off-the-floor performance video; career development mentorship sessions with A&R execs, a music lawyer and a veteran music agent; a showcase opportunity and all-access pass to Canadian Music Week 2022; participation in an ArtHaus creative workshop and a February 2022 performance at Winnipeg's Festival du Voyageur - the latter two subject to Covid restrictions.
Additionally, Jamie Labrador of Thunder Bay, Ontario is the recipient of the $10K 2021 Canada’s Walk of Fame / Metalworks Institute Scholarship, enabling him to allot that amount towards full-time campus, online diploma program or online certificate course bundle at Metalworks Institute.
The Institute offers a range of programs: music performance, audio engineering, electronic music, live event and concert production, stage lighting and video, music business, music mixing and mastering.
As for victor Baribeau, whose debut EP, For Those I Love(d), has reportedly registered 200,000+ streams across various platforms, earning them the top slot on the Indigenous Music Countdown as well as Best Music Video at the 2021 Toronto Indie Shorts Film Festival for the single "Wish We Were Older."
A recent recipient of the Young Canadian Songwriters Award presented by the SOCAN Foundation, Baribeau said that "in my own intersectionality, I want people to see me and know our representation is needed; and to feel that you’re not alone is a powerful thing.
"As the grand prize winner of Canada’s Walk of Fame RBC Emerging Musician Program, I look forward to the opportunities to invest in myself so that I can grow as an artist and continue to be a positive reflection for others through my music.”
A national not-for-profit organization that inspires all Canadians by proudly shining a light on extraordinary achievers and their journeys, Canada’s Walk of Fame was established in 1998 by founders Bill Ballard, Dusty Cohl and Peter Soumalias, with Dianne Schwalm and in partnership with Gary Slaight.
