ADI BRAUN is a singer/songwriter with a long list of cabaret, concert and theatre successes to her credit. She has performed in major jazz and concert venues in Canada, the United States, and Europe. In the fall of 2023 Adi released her sixth critically-acclaimed CD, “Night and Day – The Cole Porter Songbook”, which which had its premiere with full orchestra at the Rose Theatre, Brampton in February, 2025. Her other recordings include “Moderne Frau (Modern Woman)”, a tribute to the music of Weimar Berlin; “Canadian Scenes I”, featuring some of her own compositions; “Live at the Metropolitan Room” from New York City; “The Rules of the Game”, and “Delishious”.

After beginning her career in classical music, Adi started “singing sideways” in the late ‘90s and returned to her first love, which she calls “cabarazz”, drawing on aspects from both cabaret and jazz. Adi has received andbeen nominated for numerous awards, including “Best Major Jazz Vocalist of the Year” by New York’s Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs, and two Juno album short-lists. Her repertoire ranges from the Great American songbook, to European cabaret, to contemporary songs by Canadian legend’s Shirley Eikhard and Gordon Lightfoot, among others.

In addition to performing, Adi is a sought-after German Diction and Lieder coach, has co-hosted “Classical Mornings” on the New Classical FM, and frequently speaks on topics related to Weimar Cabaret.

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Violinist and violist BARRY SHIFFMAN has a rich and varied career as a performer, recording artist, teacher, and administrator. Shiffman made his debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15. In 1989, he co-founded the St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ). During his 17 years with the quartet he appeared in over 2,000 concerts in venues around the globe (including Rockport Music), and recorded several critically acclaimed discs under an exclusive contract with EMI Classics.

In addition to performing and recording, Shiffman is a sought-after violin and viola teacher and chamber music coach. Passionately committed to the composers of our time, he has been involved in the premieres of hundreds of new works, both in the St. Lawrence Quartet and beyond.

From 2006-2010, he served as Director of Music Programs at Banff Centre and from 2010-2016 was the Artistic Director of the Centre’s Summer Music Programs and Executive Director of the Banff International String Quartet Competition. During his tenure at The Banff Centre he introduced new programming in classical music performance, composition, popular music and Jazz and oversaw the dramatic growth of The Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC), which he continues to direct.

Since the fall of 2010, he has been at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where he has served as Associate Dean and Director of Chamber Music at the Glenn Gould School and Dean of the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists. In July 2026, he assumed the role as Dean of the esteemed institution. In addition to his work at Banff Centre and The Royal Conservatory, Shiffman has served as Executive Artistic Director of Vancouver’s Music in the Morning Concerts from 2009-2017.

He is the recipient of the Nadia Boulanger Prize for Excellence in the Art of Teaching awarded by the Longy School of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary.

BARRY'S PLAYLIST

ASTOR PIAZZOLA, ENNIO MORRICONE & JOSEPH HAYDN

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MUSIC FOR THIS EPISODE:

AMBE (Chronos Vocal Ensemble / Jordan Van Biert, cond.)

Composer: Andrew Balfour www.instagram.com/andrewbalfour_

K'VAKARAT (Arethusa Quartet/Animato Quartet/Barry Shiffman) PHENOTYPIC RECORDINGS Phenotypic Recordings / Music | Phenotypic RecordingsPIXABAY Royalty Free Music

ADI BRAUN is a singer/songwriter with a long list of cabaret, concert and theatre successes to her credit. She has performed in major jazz and concert venues in Canada, the United States, and Europe. In the fall of 2023 Adi released her sixth critically-acclaimed CD, “Night and Day – The Cole Porter Songbook”, which which had its premiere with full orchestra at the Rose Theatre, Brampton in February, 2025. Her other recordings include “Moderne Frau (Modern Woman)”, a tribute to the music of Weimar Berlin; “Canadian Scenes I”, featuring some of her own compositions; “Live at the Metropolitan Room” from New York City; “The Rules of the Game”, and “Delishious”.

After beginning her career in classical music, Adi started “singing sideways” in the late ‘90s and returned to her first love, which she calls “cabarazz”, drawing on aspects from both cabaret and jazz. Adi has received andbeen nominated for numerous awards, including “Best Major Jazz Vocalist of the Year” by New York’s Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs, and two Juno album short-lists. Her repertoire ranges from the Great American songbook, to European cabaret, to contemporary songs by Canadian legend’s Shirley Eikhard and Gordon Lightfoot, among others.

In addition to performing, Adi is a sought-after German Diction and Lieder coach, has co-hosted “Classical Mornings” on the New Classical FM, and frequently speaks on topics related to Weimar Cabaret.

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KIRK DUNN is a fibre artist, writer and actor, best known for the award-winning one-man show, The Knitting Pilgrim he co-wrote with his wife, Claire Ross Dunn. Directed by Jennifer Tarver, it tells the incredible story of his 15-year journey knitting Stitched Glass: three huge tapestries, designed in the style of stained glass, exploring the relationship amongst Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Kirk has performed the show, using the tapestries as his set, nationally and internationally, 120 times in 6 countries, to acclaim.

Kirk has written other award-winning plays, written for TV, and performed on stages and TV across Canada. His many stage credits include Billy Bishop Goes to War (Ergo Arts Theatre, Carousel); Merlin, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (YPT); Dads! The Musical (Charlottetown, Stirling, Drayton); Romeo and Juliet (Ford Centre); More Munsch (The Grand); The War Show, A Flea in Her Ear, Don’t Dress for Dinner, and The Affections of May (Drayton).

As a knitter, Kirk has designed many installations both big and small, as well as garments and household décor items, the patterns for which he is slowly but surely sharing on Ravelry. He has been a guest speaker for knitting groups in Canada, the US, and the UK, and has given workshops at the Textile Museum of Canada, the Aga Khan Museum, FACTS (Fashion Arts Creative Textiles Studio) in Blyth, the Almonte Fibrefest, Southwark Cathedral, and more, teaching his unique, colour-rich knitting style. His giant knitting installation, The Patchwork Pride Project, was displayed at London’s Canada House this summer, overlooking Trafalgar Square.

The most recent play which Kirk has co-written and co-produced with Claire is Spycraft, which explores the much talked-about female spies who used knitting as both cover and code while they gathered intelligence on the Germans during WWII. The playwrights received Toronto Arts Council funding to write the script. The play had a stage reading at Little Lion Theatre Company in London, England, and toured Ontario to acclaim in November 2025 thanks to Canada Council and Toronto Arts Council grants. www.kirkdunn.com Facebook: The Knitting Pilgrim.

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MUSIC FOR THIS EPISODE:

AMBE (Chronos Vocal Ensemble / Jordan Van Biert, cond.)

Composer: Andrew Balfour /www.instagram.com/andrewbalfour_

PIXABAY Royalty Free Music

ADI BRAUN is a singer/songwriter with a long list of cabaret, concert and theatre successes to her credit. She has performed in major jazz and concert venues in Canada, the United States, and Europe. In the fall of 2023 Adi released her sixth critically-acclaimed CD, “Night and Day – The Cole Porter Songbook”, which which had its premiere with full orchestra at the Rose Theatre, Brampton in February, 2025. Her other recordings include “Moderne Frau (Modern Woman)”, a tribute to the music of Weimar Berlin; “Canadian Scenes I”, featuring some of her own compositions; “Live at the Metropolitan Room” from New York City; “The Rules of the Game”, and “Delishious”.

After beginning her career in classical music, Adi started “singing sideways” in the late ‘90s and returned to her first love, which she calls “cabarazz”, drawing on aspects from both cabaret and jazz. Adi has received andbeen nominated for numerous awards, including “Best Major Jazz Vocalist of the Year” by New York’s Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs, and two Juno album short-lists. Her repertoire ranges from the Great American songbook, to European cabaret, to contemporary songs by Canadian legend’s Shirley Eikhard and Gordon Lightfoot, among others.

In addition to performing, Adi is a sought-after German Diction and Lieder coach, has co-hosted “Classical Mornings” on the New Classical FM, and frequently speaks on topics related to Weimar Cabaret.

========================

HARVEY BROWNSTONE was appointed Canada’s first openly gay judge in 1995 at the young age of 38. For 26 years he presided in criminal and family court in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto. He was the first sitting judge in the worldto write a best-selling book: “Tug of War: A Judge’s Verdict on Separation, Custody Battles and the Bitter Realities of Family Court”, aimed at realistically educating the public about what really happens in family court.

He then became the first sitting judge in the world to host a prime time nationally televised talk show: “Family Matters with Justice Harvey Brownstone”, which featured world class experts to discuss the justice system, marriage breakdown, the best interests of children and more.

In 2003, when same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada, Harvey became internationally known as “the face and voice of marriage equality”, officiating at thousands of same-sex weddings, including the wedding of Edith Windsor & Thea Spyer, which triggered the US Supreme Court case that overturned the Defence of Marriage Act and paving the way for the legalization of same-sex marriage in America.

After retiring from the judiciary in 2021, he created the highly popular YouTube channel “Harvey Brownstone Interviews”featuring interviews with legendary stars from the world of movies, television and music. The show, now in its 6thyear, has over 5 million online viewers per month and is televised in the UK, with a weekly audience of over 10 million viewers. "Harvey Brownstone Interviews" is currently ranked #12 on the Hollywood 411 List of the Top Talk Shows in the World.

Harvey’s memoir, “Without Prejudice: My Life as a Gay Judge” has been made into a Hollywood feature film directed byShane Stanley, starring David Arquette, David Mazouz, Rachelle Lefevre, Rob Mayes, Joe Lando and Ernest Harden Jr..

==========================www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com

HARVEYS' PLAYLIST:

" I WILL SURVIVE" - GLORIA GAYNOR

"I AM WHAT I AM" - From The Musical "LA CAGE AUX FOLLES"

"BEAUTIFUL" - ADI BRAUN (The CD "The Rules Of The Game"

"IF WE HAD NEVER MET" - ADI BRAUN (The CD "The Rules Of The Game")

"GUANABARA BAY" (The CD "The Rules Of The Game""NIGHT & DAY - THE COLE PORTER SONGBOOK" - ADI BRAUN (CD)

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MUSIC FOR THIS EPISODE:

AMBE (Chronos Vocal Ensemble / Jordan Van Biert, cond.)

Composer: Andrew Balfour /www.instagram.com/andrewbalfour_

PIXABAY Royalty Free Music