TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) – Women in Music Canada (WIMC) have announced the recipients of the inaugural WIMC Honors. The Honors were designed to celebrate and support Canadian innovators and creators who have had outstanding success in their respective fields within the past year. The Honors were presented to 18 individuals on Wednesday (March 8) night at Toronto’s Opera House.

The WIMC Honor Roll recognizes up to 10 women and gender-diverse industry members or artists who are in the early stages of their careers and showing success and growth in their work. Intended to highlight new voices in the Canadian music industry, these are the folks to watch for in the coming years.

“With so many incredible women who have broken down glass ceilings and paved the way for a more equitable music industry, I am incredibly honoured to launch this year as the start to celebrating their accomplishments,” says WIMC Executive Director, Robyn Stewart. “I am also excited to elevate the projects of newer women in music who are making great strides in unique equity serving projects. This is just the beginning.”

The recipiests for 2023 were selected by a finalist jury, from a long-list of nominees, which was revealed in February. After careful consideration, the finalist jury determined that two Trailblazer Awards should be presented in this inaugural year, as a start to increasing the work WIMC will continue to carry out in giving due to long-standing industry leaders who have commited their careers to making change.

Sandy Pandya of ArtHaus Music and Ryhna Thompson of Envision Management and Production were both recognized with the 2023 Trailblazer Award.

Hosted by CBC’s Saroja Coelho, the reception dinner also featured performances by an incredible group of artists including rising country star, Sacha, producer, DJ and performer, Liliane Chlela; JUNO-nominated recording artist, songwriter and producer, Desiree Dawson; Cree and Salish singer, Tia Wood; singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sofia Camara; and decorated, multi-platinum recording artist, Fefe Dobson.

A special induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame was presented to multi-award winning, GRAMMY-nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Loreena McKennitt, during the event.

2023 Honors Recipients
Artist of the Year (presented by Amazon Music) – Charlotte Cardin
Distinguished Leader (presented by TuneCore) – Keziah Myers, ADVANCE: Canada’s Black Music Business Collective
Entrepreneur of the Year (presented by Bandzoogle) – Elise Roller, Misfit Music MGMT
Excellence in Live Music – Heather Gibson, The National Arts Centre
International Leader of the Year – Faryal Khan-Thompson, TuneCore (USA)
Organization of the Year – Ishkōdé Records / Indigenous Music Alliance
Trailblazer Award – Ryhna Thompson, Envision Management & Production
Trailblazer Award – Sandy Pandya, ArtHaus Music

2023 Honour Roll (presented by Spotify):
Ashley Bieniarz, Songsmiths
Domanique Grant
Janna Sailor, Allegra Chamber Orchestra
Mary Beth Waldram, Laughing Heart Music
Nicole Alosinac, Nicole Alosinac Luthiery
Nicole Auger, Indigenous Music Alliance
Shumaila Hemani
STORRY
Sunny Chen, Sad China
Yolanda Sargeant, Sargeant X Comrade