Congratulations are in order for trumpeter, composer and arranger Alexis Baró who is nominated for the Muriel Sherrin Award, presented by the Toronto Arts Foundation.
The award celebrates artists or creators who have made an outstanding contribution to the city’s performing arts landscape. The fund was created in memory of Muriel Sherrin, producer of Toronto International Festival of Music and Dance. The winner receives a cash prize of $10,000 while the finalists receive $1,000 each.
Cuban-born Baró has been based in Toronto since 2001 and has released eight solo albums and participated in over 200 studio recordings. He has worked with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Paquito D’Rivera, Michael Bublé, David Rudder and Dee Dee Bridgewater. In 2025, Baró released his first big band albumAlexis Baro Y La Big Band’s Afrokando, which was nominated for a 2026 JUNO award for Jazz Album of the Year (Group).
Backed by 19-piece orchestra featuring some of Canada’s top jazz and Latin musicians, Afrokando pays tribute to the golden era of Cuban Big Band of the 1940s and 1950s while being deeply rooted in Afro-Caribbean traditions, serving as both a love letter and celebration of Afro-Cuban identity.
The other finalists of the Muriel Sherrien Award include vocalist and songwriter Densil McFarlane Jr. and Chinese-Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho. The winner will be announced on April 28 at The Mayor’s Arts Lunch Gala. Baró will also star as Dizzy Gillespie in Corey Butler’s Monk Parker Gillespie: The Origins of Bebop, taking place Friday, April 10, 7:30 pm, at the Meridian Arts Centre.
This Saturday, he joins Laura Fernandez on Cafe Latino to chat about Afrokando as well as his upcoming big band performance at Glenn Gould Studios in celebration of International Jazz Day. Tune in to Cafe Latino on Saturday, April 11 at 4PM EST only on JAZZ.FM91.