Sacred Concert Series 2023/24
The Sacred Concert Series at Grace Church on the Hill aspires to elevate and enrich its audience through a series of six diverse acoustic music concerts in our renowned acoustic space. Our aim is to curate groups that possess unique and remarkable acoustic qualities and to offer a captivating auditory experience. Additionally, we are committed to making a positive impact by supporting various charities at each concert, aligning with the intentions and prayers of our community at Grace Church on the Hill. Concerts are accessible, include an opening reception with refreshments, and feature a meet and greet with the artists.
Meet the Artists:
Nathan Hiltz (B.Mus, M.Mus) is a jazz guitarist and professor of music at Humber College. He has taught guitar to people of all ages for over 20 years for institutions including Merriam School of Music, Dixon Hall, and the Regent Park School of Music. Nathan has performed with Alex Pangman, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and The Boss Brass among others. For more information on Nathan visit www.nathanhiltz.com
Jean Bubba is a Toronto-based storyteller whose repertoire encompasses traditional folk and fairy tales, literary stories and biblical stories. In addition to regular appearances at the 1001 Nights of Storytelling, a weekly open mic event, she has produced several solo shows, notably “Serendipity at Fifty” at the Toronto Fringe Festival and “The Scorned Women’s Tea Party” for the 2017 Toronto Storytelling Festival Story Fire. A story artist exploring many genres, she was a featured teller of personal stories at But That’s Another Story, Dare Storytelling and High Stakes Storytelling events and one of epic Biblical storytellers at the annual Network of Biblical Storytellers of Canada Festival. In addition to storytelling, Jean is a lector for Grace Church on the Hill and The Church of the Redeemer where she produced an annual reading of A Christmas Carol for seven years.
Dhaivat Jani is a Toronto based award winning Composer, Drummer and a Tabla Player. Originally from Ahmedabad, India, Dhaivat released his critically acclaimed debut album “Sum // Parts” with his group ‘Dhaivat Jani PLUS’ in 2023. Dhaivat's versatility is evident as he serves as a sideman for various artists. His contributions extend to multiple cross-genre recordings. Since the late 2010s, he has also been a music producer, crafting albums and EPs across genres with various artists, showcasing his production and arranging skills. Throughout his career, Dhaivat has forged collaborations with filmmakers, poets, dancers, and visual artists, seamlessly blending diverse artistic disciplines. His vision is to push the creative boundaries by interweaving across various artforms keeping music at its core.
Chris Banks is an in-demand bassist and active member of the Toronto music community. He has performed, toured and recorded with such artists as Jill Barber, Alex Pangman and many other luminaries in the Canadian jazz scene. He also performs with his own trio, and hosts the Classic Jazz Jam at the Rex Hotel.
Rebecca Hennessy is an award-winning trumpeter, singer, composer and bandleader. In April 2023, she released her acclaimed second vocal album,“Joy Will Find Us”, which followed her 2020 celebrated debut vocal album, “All The Little Things You Do”. Both albums feature wold-renowned guitarist Kevin Breit (Sisters Euclid/Norah Jones). In 2020, Rebecca was awarded a Toronto Arts Council grant to write new music featuring the poetry of acclaimed indigenous author, Thomas King. This grant would be a continuation of a previous working relationship with King that started 2017 when she was commissioned to write music using his poetry. The music that Rebecca wrote for King’s Poem, “Dig Up The Stories”, was featured as an instrumental big band arrangement for Christine Jensen’s = Orchestra at The NAC in 2019.
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Besides these recent vocal albums, Rebecca has released 9 other albums to date as co-leader or bandleader and has toured Mexico, Panama, Sri Lanka, Europe, USA and extensively in Canada. She has also performed and recorded with internationally recognized artists including Adele, Kevin Breit, Ron Sexsmith, Andy Kim, Owen Pallett, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Ab Baars and Ken Vandermark. She was the bandleader and trumpeter for Massey Hall’s Women’s Blues Revue (2013-2022) and in 2018, won the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award and was nominated for Montreal Jazz Festival Grand Prix de Jazz in 2016.
as a highly skilled musician. While he was attending Humber College for a degree in music performance, he received several prestigious awards, including the Hnatyshyn Foundation Oscar Peterson award. While jazz is Ewen’s passion, he is a versatile player and is known to play many genres of music.
Andrew Kay is an acclaimed saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist musician and educator from Toronto, Canada performing Indian Classical Raga Music, Indo-Jazz, World Music, Contemporary Jazz and Improvised Music. He is among one of the first musicians in the world to perform Indian Classical music on the Alto Saxophone. He is a seasoned performer through numerous feature concerts around the globe with world-renowned maestros and is the co-leader of many successful creative musical projects.
