ABOUT
Canadian classical guitar virtuoso, bilingual singer/songwriter and pedagogue, JoAnne Landry began acoustic guitar lessons at the age of ten. Her musical appetite for the guitar led her to pursue classical guitar studies at the age of sixteen. She studied music and classical guitar at Cambrian College and Laurentian University (Huntington U.) with Philip Candelaria. She accomplished her grade eight classical guitar examination from The Royal Conservatory of Music with first class honours.
JoAnne continued her studies at Teacher’s College and was a schoolteacher for eight years. Continuously focused on her guitar teaching and playing, she decided to resign from school teaching to pursue her lifelong dream by opening her guitar studio full time. Her passion and commitment to singing and writing music led to her first album release in 1997, which received radio air play in multiple regions of Europe. JoAnne’s second album, Leap of Faith, included her favourite classical guitar pieces, original guitar and vocal compositions, and jazz standards. JoAnne has decided to work on her third album which will include a collection of original classical guitar and vocal based compositions in French and English, that showcase Landry’s bilingual vocal abilities and guitar prowess. Certainly destined to be her greatest work, thus far.
During the past six years, JoAnne has diligently studied at the Guitar Workshop in Oakville, Ontario where she has furthered her studied in jazz guitar, advanced altered tuning acoustic guitar and finger style guitar. She has performed with the world’s best finger style player, Tommy Emmanuel from Australia. She also attended The Sauble Beach Guitar Festival in 2013 to further study classic guitar with some of the world’s best classical guitarists. Experiences that she loved to share and pass on to her guitar students.
JoAnne’s passion for giving back to her community is one of her strongest attributes. While working with many charitable organizations, she has shared her skills and passion for music by performing for the Valle Hospice, the Sudbury Women of Distinction Awards Gala, the Montreal Canadians Alumni hockey team for prostate cancer and the 2013 Relay for Life event. JoAnne is the 2014 events chair for the Relay for Life for the communities of Sudbury and Espanola for the Canadian Cancer Society where she will perform the National Anthem and perform with her trio.
JoAnne Landry has created a legion of friends, fans, and enjoys performing at public events, that have recently included a performance for the Sudbury Arts Council and the Sudbury Culture Days Festival with her ensemble and her guitar students opening the show. Joanne Landry was the invited artists to perform for the Pan Am Relay torch event in Sudbury in June 2015 at the Grace Hartman Theatre. The following week she performed a concert for the Relay for life in Sudbury.
The soothing sounds of her warm and fluid classical guitar work and sultry vocals are destined to being JoAnne Landry into the forefront of this musical niche across Canada!