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Next Generation Jazz Festival

MusicFest Regionals @ Humber Polytechnic

March 5, 6 and 7, 2025

For nearly two decades, the Next Generation Jazz Festival has been a key stop on the road to MusicFest Canada Nationals. Hosted by Humber Polytechnic, the Festival is a unique opportunity for elementary and secondary school ensembles to benefit from the expert feedback of Humber Music faculty and clinicians—all while competing for a coveted invitation to MusicFest Nationals!

Registration for the 2025 Next Generation Jazz Festival is now open!

All Concerts Are Open And Free To Attend

Event Details

Registration Opens: Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Registration Closes:
Friday, December 13, 2024
Venue:
Humber Cultural Hub Recital Hall (A109), 3199 Lake Shore Blvd W Toronto, ON M8V 1K8
Contact:
Samantha Araza (samantha.araza@humber.ca)
Fee Structure:
Big Bands - $400 Smaller Combos - $225

New this year!

30-minute stage time will include:

  1. 20 minutes for set-up and performance
  2. 10 minute clinic. Clinic will be done on stage (immediately after performance).

If you would like an additional 30-minute private one-on-one clinic, this will be an additional $100. This clinic will be done off stage.

Please note: We can only accept a max of 30 participants in a single ensemble.

Payment Procedure

  • Registration must be made using the online form.
  • After submitting the registration form, an invoice will be sent to the respective school.
  • Entries will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Spots will be considered secure ONLY once payment has been received by Humber College.

Next Generation Jazz Festival 2025 Adjudicators

Lauren Falls MA, BA

Professor of Bass

Lauren Falls is a sought-after bassist, composer and bandleader who over the last decade has been making her mark both on the Toronto and New York jazz scenes. Ms. Falls has an undeniably strong command of the bass and is in demand both as a sidewoman and bandleader. As a composer and arranger, she creates music that is melodically enticing and harmonically entrancing. Her compositions stem from the jazz tradition with modern elements of rock, pop, and folk woven throughout. Her recent record release, A Little Louder Now, was nominated for a Juno Award.

Lauren has toured North America and Europe with performances at the Kennedy Center and at jazz festivals including The Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival in Washington, DC, Ottawa International Jazz Festival, and Toronto Jazz Festival to name a few. You will find her in Toronto at venues such as The Rex, The Jazz Bistro and Lula Lounge, and in New York at venues such as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Smalls, and 55 Bar. Recently Lauren performed as part of Jake Epstein’s Mirvish production Boy Falls From The Sky, which was nominated for Six Dora Awards.

In 2020, Ms. Falls was a finalist for the Toronto Arts Council Emerging Artist Award and has been the recipient of multiple Canada Council Grants. She has been an artist-in-residence at The Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program and The Ravinia Steans Institute. She holds a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and a bachelor's degree from Humber College.

Thomas Francis

Thomas Francis is one of Toronto’s leading pianists and is well known for his extensive background in jazz and soul-based musics. Thomas played with Canadian artists such as Juno Award-winning music icon and jazz vocalist Kellylee Evans, Alexis Baro (Juno-nominated jazz artist), Dan Talevski (MMVA nominee), Melanie Durrant (Juno-nominated R&B artist), KC Roberts & The Live Revolution (Toronto funk band), The Reklaws (CCMA-winning country duo), George St. Kitts (Juno-nominated Toronto soul icon), and many more. 

Thomas completed his diploma in Jazz Performance at Humber College, and bachelor of fine arts at York University. In 2017, he completed his master's in Composition at York where his work focused on the relationship between jazz and hip-hop histories and musics and a new breadth course he created, “Hip Hop: A Study of Blackness.” His works received grants such as the 2019 Special Projects grant by the Toronto Jazz Festival and the 2021 Music Recording Project – EP Category grant from Ontario Arts Council. Additionally, he is well known for his musicianship skills in writing and arranging for strings, having established his own contemporary string ensemble, The Four Strings.  

Thomas is the host of The Jazz Gene, a weekly one-hour show on Toronto’s online jazz radio platform, Jazzcast.ca. Thomas has spent the last five years working as a professor of music at Centennial College and is looking forward to joining Humber’s music program as a full-time faculty member this year.

Kelsley Grant

Trombonist, composer and arranger Kelsley Grant received his bachelor of music from McGill University and completed his graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music. Shortly after leaving New York, he joined Maynard Fergusonʼs Big Bop Noveau and toured the United States, Germany, Switzerland and England. Kelsley has performed with Aretha Franklin, Jackie Richardson, Frank Sinatra Jr., Michael Buble, Maria Schneider, Michel LeGrand, Nicholas Payton, Sophie Milman, Ranee Lee and Nikki Yanofsky. He toured with Forever Swing and took part in the Toronto productions of Annie, Romancing The One I Love, Ainʼt Misbehavinʼ, The Rat Pack, Kinky Boots, Matilda and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. He has played on several movie soundtracks including Born to Be Blue, Cirque de Soleil Alegría and Les Triplettes De Belleville. Kelsley has been twice nominated for trombonist of the year by the National Jazz Awards. The Jefferson-Grant Quintet won an Opus Award for their first recording and was nominated Acoustic Ensemble of the Year by the National Jazz Awards. Kelsley has served as a faculty member at McGill University, University of Montreal and University of Toronto. He has given master classes and clinics at universities across Canada and is currently a full-time faculty member at Humber College

Lucian Gray B.A.

Professor of Music - Guitar Instrument Lead

Lucian Gray has established a reputation, both domestically and internationally, as one of Canada’s leading guitarists, and is integral to Toronto’s jazz scene as both sideman and leader.

Born into a musical family, Lucian’s musical journey began with piano lessons from his mother at the age of three. His father, Charlie Gray, is one of Canada’s foremost trumpet players and his mother, Madoka Murata, is the head of her own music school, Discovery Through the Arts.

Lucian’s interest in music, particularly jazz, was immediate and he knew very early on that he wanted to be a professional musician. In addition to his primary instrument, guitar, Lucian also doubles on piano and both upright and electric bass.

From touring internationally to playing local clubs regularly, Lucian’s experience as a performer across a variety of genres and styles is extensive. He feels at home playing a plethora of styles and genres, and is a veteran of both stage and studio.


In addition to being one of Canada’s most in-demand players, Lucian is also known as a long-standing music educator who has been teaching in the Toronto area since 2005.

In 2019, Lucian joined the faculty of Humber College's music degree program. As of 2024, Lucian transitioned into the role of guitar instrument lead as a full time professor of music.

Dave Neill

Born and raised in Ottawa, saxophonist Dave Neill moved to Toronto in 1995 to pursue a jazz performance degree from the University of Toronto, where he studied with Alex Dean and Mike Murley.

Working as a performer, adjudicator and clinician, Dave is active on the freelance scene, including jobs with Johnny Mathis, Wayne Newton, Frankie Valli, Regis Philbin and Nikki Yanofsky. He has adjudicated at festivals across Ontario, including the national Musicfest finals, and has given a clinic at OMEA entitled “Breaking Down Barriers for Jazz Improvisation.”

Now a full-time professor at Humber College, Dave teaches a variety of courses, including Business for Creative Industry and Song Materials, as well as private lessons in the woodwind area. Previously, he taught at the University of Toronto from 2004-2016 and the Humber College Community Music School from 2000-2015, as well as mentoring the next generation of performers at the Youth Jazz Canada’s Summer Jazz Workshop and the IMC Jazz Camp.

Dave completed his master’s in jazz performance at the University of Toronto, and has released two CDs as a leader. His debut quartet CD, All In, featured his original compositions, while his follow-up CD, Daylight, was named as one of the top Canadian Jazz CDs of 2014 by Peter Hum of the Ottawa Citizen.

Brian O'Kane

M.Mus. (Jazz Performance) - University of Toronto
B.Mus. (Jazz Studies) - Thompson Rivers University
Diploma (Honours Music) - Humber College

Brian is very active in the Canadian music scene, having performed and recorded with groups including the Rob McConnell Tentet, The Boss Brass, John MacLeod’s Rex Hotel Jazz Orchestra (Juno Award 2010), Hilario Duran’s Latin Jazz Big Band (Juno Award 2006), the Bernie Senensky Quintet and the Barry Elmes Quintet. He has also backed up a lengthy list of international artists including Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Paul Anka, Diana Krall, and has appeared on dozens of radio/television jingles as well as theatre productions.
Brian has also performed with a variety of classical ensembles including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, and True North Brass. He has performed at jazz festivals around the world, most recently as a featured artist in Daejeon, South Korea. It was an honour for him to perform as an artist/clinician at the 33rd Annual International Trumpet Guild Conference held in Banff, Alberta.
Brian loves working with young musicians and has been a guest performer/clinician at numerous colleges and universities nationwide. He is an Endorsing Artist for the Edwards Brass Instrument Company (Elkhorn, WI) as well as the Gard Instrument Bags (Kolkata, India).

Andrew Scott PhD, MM

Program Co-ordinator & Professor

As a musician, writer, journalist and arts educator, Andrew Scott, PhD, has influenced many aspects of creative arts and culture in Canada and beyond for more than three decades.

A jazz guitarist, Andrew has worked as an in-demand side person, led his own bands with a focus on classic jazz repertoire, and performed and recorded with such musicians as Bernie Senensky, Dan Block, Harry Allen, Grant Stewart, Ben Paterson, Randy Sandke, and Jon-Erik Kellso for such labels as Cellar Live, Marshmallow, and Sackville Records.

His latest album, Horizon Song with Kelsley Grant, Amanda Tosoff, Neil Swainson, and Order of Canada winner Terry Clarke was released on Cellar Live records in 2024.

Andrew has committed himself to learning from the elders of this music and has enjoyed meaningful musical relationships with the late drummer Archie Alleyne—for whom he worked as side musician, music director of Alleyne’s Evolution of Jazz Ensemble, and co-composer of “Syncopation: Life in the Key of Black”—and the nonagenarian pianist Gene DiNovi, with whom Andrew has recorded three albums.

Andrew’s music has been heard internationally in film and television (Pretend We’re Kissing, Once a Thief, CBC’s The Border and Kim’s Convenience), and his writing about music has appeared in Downbeat Magazine, Wax Poetics, CODA (where he was the final managing editor), Jazz Research Journal, Journal of Popular Music Studies, and in more than one hundred sets of jazz liner notes.

In 2024, Andrew was the principal researcher, essayist, and associate producer of an archival release of a 1972 recording from the famed American jazz organist Jack McDuff.

Andrew has also worked as an independent juror and consultant for the Toronto Arts Foundation.

Andrew's comedic writing regularly appears on such humour platforms as The HavenThe Daily DrunkMuddyUm, and The Toronto Harold where it garners between multiple hundreds and more than 11K online views, and his poetry has been anthologized by Alien Buddha Press (Alien Buddha Zine #58 and the chapbook Resist the Zeitgeist).

Having earned his PhD from York University, Andrew has lectured at universities and conferences across North America (NYU, Kent State, McGill, York University, Western University, the University of Guelph) and has enjoyed a long professional relationship with Humber Polytechnic, where he is a professor and the program co-ordinator of the Bachelor of Music program.

Andrew was previously associate dean and acting dean of Humber’s School of Creative and Performing Arts, where he oversaw and administratively stewarded the music, creative writing, arts administration, theatre and comedy programs.

MusicFest Regionals @ Humber is a sanctioned affiliate of MusicFest Canada