Jazz Musician Intensive Ensemble

Part of the 2026 Toronto Jazz Festival. More information from Toronto Jazz Festival The Jazz Musician Intensive Ensemble is an “all-star” sextet made up of students, recommended by faculty members, from the jazz programs at York University, the University of Toronto and Humber Polytechnic. Under the direction of Allison Au, the ensemble will rehearse for five days during the Festival, then perform on the OLG Village Stage, presenting a mix of jazz standards and originals 2026 Toronto Jazz Festival educational programming is presented by Long & McQuade. The 2026 Jazz Musician Intensive Ensemble is: Jacob Kozlowski, Saxophone (Humber) Gracie Singh-Yuz, Voice (U of T) Isabella Di Trapani, Voice (York) Kyle Daneff, Piano (Humber) Evita Lalonde, Bass (York) Sahej Rai, Drums (U of T) Allison Au (pronounced “ow”) is a JUNO award winning saxophonist, composer and arranger. Highly regarded for her distinctive and imaginative voice, Allison has been lauded as “a new jazz ambassador” for Canada. Au has garnered one JUNO award win and four JUNO award nominations for each of her four albums: “The Sky Was Pale Blue, Then Grey” (2013), “Forest Grove” (2016), “Wander Wonder” (2019) and “Migrations” (2024), and has toured extensively in Canada and the United States. Winner of the 2017 Montreal Jazz Festival TD Grand Prix de Jazz, the 2017 Halifax Jazz Festival Sting Ray Rising Star Award and a 2017 Finalist for Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Jazz Artist Award, Allison was also featured in SFJAZZ’s 2018 list of "10 Rising Instrumentalists You Should Know.”