Facilitators

The hosts of Women’s Music Weekend—Jane Lewis & Katherine Wheatley—have years of experience writing songs, performing, touring, and facilitating workshops for people of all ages. Together they create a weekend that encourages you in a safe and nourishing space to play, break through any barriers you have to exploring your music, and have fun. Different weekends will have a guest facilitator (or two!) bringing their own skills and areas of expertise to share with the group.

Singer-songwriter Jane Lewis is a strong believer in the power of music and singing to bring people together. She leads regular choir groups as well as workshops on harmony singing, finding your voice, vocal meditation, vocal improvisation, Circle Singing, and more. She has studied with Rhiannon and Música do Círculo, and attended Bobby McFerrin’s CircleSongs workshop.

Jane is a published YA author, and she harbours a deep fascination for words and poetry. She has two solo recordings of original music, and performs most often in the folk duo Gathering Sparks. Their newest album All That’s Real was released in October 2019 with Borealis Records, and the lead track from the album—”Bringing in the Light“—won that year’s Folk Music Ontario/Songs From the Heart award (singer-songwriter).

“Everything about this record from the gorgeous songs, crisp lead vocals, stunning harmonies, creative arrangements, the stellar band accompaniment and its production are top drawer.” — Jan Hall, Folk Roots Radio (Stay With Me solo album)

Geologist-turned-folk singer Katherine Wheatley is one busy musician. In addition to her solo performing singer/songwriter career, she’s half of the duo “Wendell and Wheat,” a third of the trio Boreal (with Angie Nussey and Tannis Slimmon), and is one of the founding members of the Toronto All-Star band “Betty and the Bobs.” Her song “Hallelujah” won a 2009 Porcupine Golden Quill award and has become a standard in sing-along circles. Her 2010 solo show in Charlottetown was selected “Performance of the Year” by the Guardian. Two of her songs were selected for the new Rise Again songbook (30th anniversary publication of Rise Up). She writes and records songs with kids through her Youthsongs program and has produced over 30 CDs with schools across North America. She works as a singer/zodiac driver on board the ship The MS Expedition as it plies the seas of Antarctica and the Norwegian Arctic. When she’s not on tour, Katherine presents songwriting and choral workshops in her home town of Guelph, Ontario.

“It is rare that one can find a singer/songwriter who nails guitar licks while at the same time dazzles you with emotive songwriting and perfectly pitched vocal prowess.”—Todd MacLean, THE GUARDIAN, Charlottetown, PEI

Special Guest – May 2025

With a focus on welcoming, participatory music-making and learning, Cynthia Kinnunen is a firm believer in the potential of music to influence and transform us as individuals and communities. She holds a Masters in Community Music, and over the years has studied piano, flute, bassoon, oboe, voice and ukulele. She has also completed the James Hill Ukulele Initiative three-year teacher certification program. She now supports a multi-generational community of music-makers in Guelph, Ontario, including the popular Royal City Ukulele Ensemble adult community orchestra program now in its 11th season. She teaches workshops, classes and private lessons (piano, ukulele), and supports lifelong learning and community music programming locally and around the world, including teaching and performing at festivals and events from British Columbia to Finland and many stops in between.

In addition to her dynamic teaching and facilitation practice, she is also now working on a PhD in Community Music at Wilfrid Laurier University. Using narrative, arts-based and co-creative research methods, she is researching the experiences of social music-making and the stories of women in those spaces.

“She makes learning music fun and puts great care and effort into considering people at all levels and with different learning styles.” — Ukulele ensemble member

Special Guest – May 2025

Stacey Dela Can-Tamakloe is an international student from Ghana, recently graduating with a master’s degree in Music and Culture from the School for Studies in Art and Culture at Carleton University in Ottawa. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Ghana in Legon where she focused on music and dance studies. She is particularly interested in gender roles in Ghanaian popular and traditional music. Stacey coached Carleton’s West African Rhythm Ensemble and performed in their end-of-year concerts. Stacey was also a Graduate Research Assistant for the “Reimagining the Global Music Ensemble” project by Kathy Armstrong at the Research Centre for Music, Sound and Society in Canada.

Special Guest – September 2025

Emm Gryner is a 3-time Juno Award nominated Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist. She has been sought after by David Bowie and Def Leppard to sing and collaborate with them on tour and on recordings, including the new Stripped Version of “Pour Some Sugar On Me” featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Emm also helped make the first music video in outer space when Chris Hadfield enlisted her to create a new version of “Space Oddity,” which was partially recorded aboard the International Space Station. Emm’s new album “Business & Pleasure” is a foray into yacht rock and features an all-star list of Nashville musicians who have worked with Michael McDonald, Hall & Oates, Taylor Swift and Toto.

Special Guest – September 2025

Kat Goldman is an award-winning songwriter whose songs have been covered by Grammy-nominated band The Duhks, Dar Williams, and Kate and Ruth, among others. She is author of the book: “Off The Charts: What I Learned From My Almost Fabulous Life in Music” (Sutherland House Books). Kat teaches songwriting to individuals and groups, and is currently working on her fifth album.