MusicFest Regionals @ Humber

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.

Andrew’s interest in music began at an early age, with a curiosity about Mozart and Beethoven. At around the age of nine, he wanted to be part of his older brother’s garage band, so he picked up the guitar and they partcipated in local festivals, shows and Battle of the Bands events. While attending a performing arts high school, Andrew discovered jazz and fell in love with it. He was very fortunate to be a part of the Jazz FM Youth Big Band, which introduced him to other like-minded teens. At the suggestion of Anthony Fung, Toronto drummer extraordinaire, he auditoned for the Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop with Terri Lyne Carrington. This eventually led to him being accepted as an undergrad. After graduating from Berklee in 2016 with a full scholarship, Andrew became involved in the Toronto music scene, accompanying world-class artists and vocalists such as Justin Nozuka, Joanna Majoko, Dayna Stephens, Andrew McAnsh and Jesse Ryan, to name a few. With Justin Nozuka, he had the opportunity to tour extensively throughout Europe, the United States and Canada. Andrew is continually learning new musical ideas and concepts and sharing them with others is his passion. He has honed his teaching methods and has developed a strong group of students from Toronto and around the world. Recently, Andrew has accepted a teaching position at the prestigious Humber College. As a session musician, Andrew has contributed to many albums, ranging from award-winning rap to cutting edge modern Jazz. With the help of his 2022 Toronto Emerging Jazz Artist award, he is recording on an album featuring original compositions to be released later this year. 

Dr. Andrew Scott is a guitarist, writer and educator.

A staple in Canada’s music scene for over three decades, versatile, veteran vocalist Yvette Tollar has performed for audiences across Canada, the United States, Europe and South America. Yvette’s CD, Ima, was nominated for a JUNO Award (Best Vocal Jazz Album). Known for her velvety rich tone, keen musical instincts and soulful delivery of the lyric, Yvette transports audiences to unexpected places and keeps them coming back for more. She is a featured vocalist on numerous recordings including those of Canadian jazz, soul, folk and world music elites such as Elizabeth Shepherd, Michael Occhipinti’s Shine On project, Kevin Breit, John MacMurchy, Marito Marquez, Maryem & Ernie Tollar, Dominic Mancuso and Rich Brown’s Rinsethealgorithm. Yvette has shared stages with jazz masters Sheila Jordan, Dave Holland, Kenny Werner and Don Thompson. Tollar has composed, produced and sung extensively for film, television and radio. She has been the recipient of numerous grants, scholarships and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR, Banff Centre, Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council which awarded her the illustrious Chalmers Arts Fellowship. Inspiring generations of young musicians for over 25 years, Yvette has taught voice, piano, songwriting and ensemble performance. As well, she has acted as advisor for recording projects, coached audition hopefuls, conducted masterclasses and workshops, and offered detailtd and insightful feedback as a sought-after adjudicator. Uplifted by her personalized and passionate approach, Yvette’s students have gone on to nominations and coveted wins at The Grammy Awards, JUNO Awards, Canadian Country Music Awards, Indigenous Music Awards, Dora Awards, and more. Since 2015, Yvette has been a faculty member at Humber College where she has taught numerous subjects in the Bachelor of Music, Music Composition and Introduction to Commercial Jazz programs.