Deadline: CLOSED

In 2010, in memory of her daughter Taylor Mitchell, the burgeoning Canadian songwriter who died October 28, 2009 from a coyote attack while hiking in Cape Breton, Emily Mitchell established The OCFF Taylor Mitchell Bursary for participants in the OCFF Youth Performer program.

Annually for five years (2010 - 2014 inclusive), one young performer will be chosen to receive up to $500 towards costs associated with attending the conference and participating in the OCFF Youth program. All candidates chosen by jury to participate in the program are eligible for the bursary. The recipient is determined according to need by a group of musical mentors who knew and loved Taylor. The first bursary was awarded in 2010 to Maria Tullio, a young songwriter from Port Hope.

If you are interested in the OCFF Youth Program or know someone who is between 15 and 21 years old, a resident of Ontario or the National Capital Region of Quebec and an aspiring folk/roots performer, please contact Chris MacLean, Community Outreach Manager, or call 1-866-292-6233.

The Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award was established to help support and promote the work of Ontario-resident emerging singer/songwriters in the genres of roots, traditional, folk and country music. The annual recipient is chosen by an Ontario Arts Council (OAC) selection panel from 15 nominations put forward by the OCFF's Songs From the Heart competition, excluding overall winners of the Galaxie Rising Stars Awards.

Toronto, October 14, 2010 – The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is pleased to announce Lynne Hanson as the 2010 recipient of the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award for her song “Rest of My Days.”

Lynne Hanson is an Ottawa-based singer/songwriter whose career has earned her devoted fans in Canada, the US, Europe and Australia. In 2009, Hanson received a nomination for the Canadian Folk Music Award and was a finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk competition. Her third album, Once the Sun Goes Down was released on September 15, 2010.

The jury remarked on the powerful imagery evoked in Hanson’s music and noted, “Lynne’s songs have a beautiful, haunting feeling, into which you can sink and be enveloped.”

To download a PDF of the full press release from the Ontario Arts Council, please click here.