Lorne Lofsky

“Guitar players know about him. The people that know, know. His playing is spontaneous, adventurous, playful. I have the utmost respect for him.” Peter Bernstein “American listeners have slept for too long on this major figure in Canadian Jazz, whose gorgeous tone, technical prowess, and cool, cerebral approach to improvisation may remind admirers of the late Jim Hall” Allen Morrison, JazzTimes.

Over the course of a 40+ year career, Lofsky has played, toured, and recorded with some of the most prominent names in Jazz including Oscar Peterson, Chet Baker, Ed Bickert, Pat LaBarbera, Ray Brown, Joey DeFrancesco, and many others. Born, raised, and based in Toronto, Canada, Lofsky’s career began when Oscar Peterson offered to produce his first record, It Could Happen to You (Pablo Records), in 1980. During the years that followed, Lofsky worked extensively in the Toronto area and toured with the likes of Pat LaBarbera, and fellow guitarist Ed Bickert. Bickert and Lofsky’s fruitful collaboration ran from 1983 through 1991 and produced two widely-acclaimed recordings including the well-known 1990 Concord release This Is New. A master guitarist known for pianistic voicings and virtuosic skill; Lorne Lofsky is considered one of Canada’s great musical treasures. This Song Is New is his first recording as a leader in over two decades and signals an exciting new page in the guitarist’s illustrious career. 

Donna Grantis

Donna Grantis is a Canadian artist and guitarist. From 2012 to 2016 Grantis performed and recorded with Prince as a member of his funk-rock trio 3RDEYEGIRL and supergroup New Power Generation. Grantis composed the title track to Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL’s album PLECTRUMELECTRUM, which reached #1 on the Billboard Rock Chart. As a bandleader, she fronted a 5-piece electric jazz quintet and released her debut album, DIAMONDS & DYNAMITE, described by the Star Tribune as, “New millennium jazz-rock fusion, sorta like Jeff Beck meets a post-modern Mahavishnu Orchestra.” She has shared the stage with a number of award-winning artists including Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monae, and she has collaborated musically with Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl among others. Her newest project, Culture vs Policy, fuses the emotive power of music with thought provoking dialogue concerning human impacts on the planet. Grantis’ formal training includes a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from McGill University. She first attended Guitar Workshop Plus as a teenager, and shortly thereafter joined as a faculty member at sessions in Toronto and Vancouver. Donna is excited to return as a guest artist in 2023……and GWP is incredibly proud to welcome her back home.

Ariel Posen

Ariel Posen’s music occupies the space between genres. It’s a rootsy sound that nods to his influences — heartland rock & roll, electrified Americana, blue-eyed soul, R&B, Beatles-inspired pop — while still moving forward, pushing Posen into territory that’s uniquely his own. Along the way, Posen has received standing ovations not only from his audiences, but also from outlets like Rolling Stone, who dubbed him “a modern-day guitar hero” Music Radar listing him as a fan voted top 10 rock guitarist of the year and the Western Canadian Music Awards who nominated him for Breakout Artist of the Year in 2020 and 2021, as well as Rock Artist of the Year and Recording of the Year in 2022.