Jeremiah Cossa was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artist Award.

Jeremiah Cossa is the embodiment of a modern musician: a boundary-crossing pianist proficient in a vast array of musical languages. He leads an exciting and unorthodox career that nimbly traverses Classical and Contemporary chamber repertoire, Jazz-rooted and free improvisation, and several Rock projects.
Cossa is a core member of Chamber Rock ensemble Cordis, praised by Billboard for creating “sparkling moments that defy classification.” He has performed with Parlando, the NYC orchestra called “off the scale for its integrity and emotional impact” by the NY Classical Review. His punk band nurse joy was a fixture of the Boston DIY scene while active.

Classically trained, Cossa has appeared as soloist with multiple orchestras and received a share of local and international competition awards before shifting his focus to Contemporary repertoire.
Jeremiah grew up in eSwatini (formerly Swaziland), where he began piano at age 5 and continued after moving back to the US at age 11. He holds a B.M. from Azusa Pacific University and an M.M. from The Boston Conservatory. He resides in Brooklyn.

His music - including a recent trio EP with Boston friends Matt Ares on bass and Henry Godfrey on drums, featuring original compositions and arrangements ranging from John Coltrane to Coldplay - can be heard on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms.

Arthur Clees was generously supported by the Barbara and John Poole Memorial Endowment.

Arthur Clees is a Luxembourg-born electronic music artist, producer, composer, and improviser whose work bridges minimal techno, ambient electronica, jazz-rooted improvisation, and contemporary compositional forms.

Growing up in Esch-sur-Alzette, Arthur began his musical journey studying cello and classical percussion before immersing himself in jazz, vibraphone, and contemporary improvised music.

He went on to study at the jazz departments at the music academy in Dresden and Oslo and formed several bands throughout his early musical career. Including the award-winning duo Kravchenko Clees and the jazz new wave quartet Jambal with whom he still plays and tours today.

Arthur’s debut solo album as a producer and songwriter, Stay, Temporary Home, was released on Macro Recordings in 2023 and earned critical recognition for its hypnotic blend of techno, ambient, and avant-garde influences. The record was nominated for the prestigious Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik in the Electronic & Experimental category.

He has also collaborated with iconic figures in the electronic music world. A notable release is Jan Jelinek & Arthur Clees: Live in Luxembourg, December 3rd 2021, a vinyl and digital recording of an improvised performance with Berlin electronic pioneer Jan Jelinek.

Beyond his solo work, Arthur produces for other artists, contributing beats, mixes, and creative sonic production for emerging voices in the European scene. He is currently active as a performer, composer, arranger and producer in modern improvised music rooted in Jazz, Hip Hop and experimental music as well as contemporary classical music.

Joel Bracken was generously supported by the Ontario Artists Fund.

Joel Bracken is a saxophonist, composer, and arranger based in Toronto. Born and raised in Toronto, Joel began exploring the music scene as a teenager, attending concerts at jazz venues across the city and hearing outstanding local musicians and players from around the world. Joel studied at Humber College, where he had the opportunity to perform with the artists-in-residence in 2023 and 2024: Davide Virelles and Ingrid Jensen. Since graduating from Humber College, Joel has become an active member of the Toronto music community, performing regularly at venues across the Greater Toronto Area with musicians such as Dave Young, Lorne Lofsky, and the Carn Davidson 9. Joel also composes music for various configurations of jazz ensembles. In 2024, he released a short EP of original compositions on all streaming platforms and is releasing an album of original music and standards in the fall of 2026. Joel is also an active educator, teaching woodwinds privately and at Long and McQuade.

Jayden Blockley was generously supported by the Marshall M. Williams Endowment.

Saxophonist Jayden Blockley is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most exciting emerging jazz artists, praised by Tony Gould AM as “one of the most beautiful young musicians” he has encountered.

Jayden has been a finalist for multiple awards including the National Jazz Awards and the Freedman Fellowship. In 2018, he was the winner of the prestigious James Morrison Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to young Australian jazz musicians who demonstrate exceptional talent and artistry. He later was a member of the Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra, appearing at the Perth International Jazz Festival, and most notably in concert alongside Trio Grande at the Sydney Con Jazz Festival.

In 2020, Jayden released his debut album I Wrote A Song For Her, For Me with ABC Jazz. His original composition ‘Song for a Better Day’ received a WAM Song of the Year nomination.

Jayden has had the opportunity to share the stage with internationally acclaimed musicians including Gordon Goodwin, Wycliffe Gordon, Kurt Elling, Joey DeFrancesco, James Morrison and Jeff Clayton.

Igor Ambrosin was generously supported by the Helen Graham Artist Award.

Igor Ambrosin (2000) is an Italian pianist, improviser, and composer who is emerging on the new European scene of contemporary jazz. His music combines the love for improvisation with a deep exploration of rhythmic complexity, bringing an original and genre-fluid approach to composition and interplay.  

His main current project is the Igor Ambrosin Trio, an international band featuring him on piano alongside Jonathan Ho on double bass and live electronics and Pierre Hurty on drums. The group is currently working on the recording and release of the debut album, scheduled for 2026. At the same time, he is developing Second Life, a multidisciplinary performance in collaboration with illustrator and graphic designer Anna Bonomi, which will be premiered in Rotterdam in fall 2026.  

After studying at Siena Jazz University (Bachelor’s degree) and the Rotterdam Conservatory (Master’s degree), Igor now lives in Amsterdam, where he works and spends his free time clumsily solving sudoku.

Ruby Rae Lupe Ah-Wai Macomber (she/they) is an Indigenous writer, junior lawyer, and kaupapa Māori researcher of Ngāpuhi and Rotuman descent. Formerly the co-manager of Te Kāhui, a creative programme for Indigenous youth in prisons across Aotearoa, Ruby now organises, writes, and advocates for Indigenous liberation and the abolition of state carceral violence.

A 2026 McCormack Writing Centre (formerly Tin House) Scholar, Ruby was the 2025 curator of both the New Zealand Young Writers’ Festival and STREETSIDE for the Auckland Writers’ Festival. She has also facilitated workshops, edited publications, and performed her work across Aotearoa.

My Moana Girls (2024), published by ngā pukapuka pekapeka, is her debut chapbook. Her writing appears in journals and anthologies throughout Aotearoa. Ruby is currently working on a full-length collection of poetry and essays exploring Indigenous anti-carceral feminism.
 

Özten Shebahkeget is a member of Northwest Angle 33 First Nation in Treaty 3 territory, born and raised in Winnipeg. Her poetry has appeared in CV2, Prairie Fire, the Winnipeg Free Press and with the Winnipeg Art Gallery. She’s previously taken part in literary residences at the Banff Centre and Sage Hill. She was also recently shortlisted for the Foster Poetry Prize.

Özten graduated from the University of Winnipeg’s creative writing program in 2020, winning several writing prizes during her studies. She also holds an MFA in writing from the University of Saskatchewan, where she received the Elizabeth Brewster memorial scholarship and a graduate thesis award nomination. She’s been working as a full-time reporter with CBC Manitoba since her successful thesis defence in September 2022.

Her thesis, Mashkode, is a speculative verse novel set at the Manitoba legislative building. The story focuses on representations of hybridized “Others” within the building’s architecture.

Joshua is a Dine’ (Navajo) comedian, actor, and writer based in Denver, Colorado. He produces the Native American comedy showcase, Bad Indian, at clubs and festivals around the world including at Netflix is a Joke, SF Sketchfest, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Joshua’s documentary, also called Bad Indian, was selected for SeriesFest Season 11 and his short film, Finding the Funny, is currently on display at the Denver Art Museum. He is a regular contributor with CityCast Denver and Westword Magazine. Joshua was selected for the Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Arts & Culture in 2023 and was named to the NCAIED’s Native American 40 under 40 in 2026. He currently serves on the board of the Arts District on Sante Fe and the Denver American Indian Commission. Joshua lives at home with partner, Rachel, their two dogs, Lola and Arianna, and their two cats, Nibbler and Joanna.

When Cree Métis filmmaker Jay Cardinal Villeneuve arrived in Vancouver he just dropped out of college on a Theatre Scholarship determined to get into the movie game, even though Y2K was threatening our very existence. Armed w/ a camcorder and an "exotic look" (according to casting directors) he shot numerous no-budget short films and played bit parts in some ill-fated tv shows until graduating from the Indigenous Film Program at Capilano University. 

Jay then worked as a videographer recording private statements w/ the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for several years while concurrently making his own independent films. He directed the residential school documentary Holy Angels that won him a Leo Award for Screenwriting, and was chosen for the inaugural Warner Media Canadian Academy Writer's Program. His latest effort is the Louis Riel drama Gods & Devils currently playing festivals. 

At the moment Jay's in the edit suite cutting his award-winning short comedy Buffalo Testicles for the Soul into a feature aimed at Netflix, where he can be seen (if you don't blink) opposite Jennifer Lopez in The Mother, as a Doctor, not named Dr. Jay. He also has three rad kids, who collaborate and perform in his short films on YouTube.

Koromiko Jacob-Williams is a dynamic poet, activist, writer, facilitator, creative, and future filmmaker who hails from Tauranga, Aotearoa, New Zealand(Iwi/Tribes of Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui). They are a member of the spoken word poetry group Rehekōrero, who took out the Word - The Frontline competition in 2023 and the Trans-Tasman poetry slam. The group has also performed at Laneway Music Festival, Splore Festival, Fat Freddy’s Drop’s SloMo tour, and much more. Individually, they are fluent in te reo Māori and incorporate their language into their written poetry. They speak about Te Ao Māori and political issues through an indigenous lens while touching on what it's like to be a young wāhine Māori. Currently, they're studying for a Bachelor of Communications, studying film and journalism at AUT. They hope to write and release a collection of poetry in the future and create films focusing on indigenous storytelling.