Biography

Jeanine has recently made several posters and promotional photographs available directly from this site.

Jeanine Noyes is a vibrant and compelling singer/songwriter. Her evocative lyrics and powerful delivery have earned her rave reviews and awards both in Toronto and in her hometown of Kingston.

In 1994, she was awarded FACTOR's New Talent Demo Award for which she solicited the production expertise of Hugh Marsh (Bruce Cockburn, Loreena McKennitt) and Fergus Marsh (Bruce Cockburn, Steve Bell, Big Faith); and she received an honorable mention from the Amadeus Choir Carol Writing Competition for a choral piece that has since been performed by several choirs across Ontario.

In 1996, Jeanine released a self-titled six-song cassette. In 1997, she received sponsorship from IMAGO, a charitable organization supporting new artists, and started to diligently raise money through concerts, art auctions, etc. for her debut CD.

In 1998, Jeanine was one of 17 Kingston artists chosen for Longshot Live, a CD raising money for the neo-natal unit at Kingston General Hospital. Her song received the highest acclaim.

In April of 1999, Jeanine became one of 10 regional finalists from across Ontario in Thalia's Voice (a competition for female performers). In the fall of 1999 she began recording with Vancouver producer Roy Salmond (producer of Juno nominee Blaise Pascal). The recording is rich with Toronto's best performers, including Hugh Marsh, Fergus Marsh, Kevin Breit, and Troy Feener, to name a few. Juno nominee Tory Cassis sings a beautifully sparse duet with Jeanine on the title track.

In the fall of 2000, she music directed (which included writing and arranging) and starred in Brookstone's Christmas theatre piece 2000 Candles which received rave reviews across Toronto. The show was so successful that it was remounted the following Christmas season and toured cities across southern Ontario.

In the fall of 2001, Jeanine released her début CD. The recording features Jeanine and her four-piece band delivering a moody groove ranging from dark to country to funky, drawing the audience into the well crafted songs with an honesty capable of dropping defenses and appealing to the heart. Fittingly, the recording is simply called transparent.

Jeanine released her second CD in November 2004, a Christmas offering filled with new treatments of old favourites and evocative original songs including the richly textured title track He's Here, a choral piece which earned an honourable mention from the prestigious Amadeus Choir Carol Writing Competition.

When not performing with her "steaming" band or as a duo with bass and Chapman Stick master Fergus Marsh (Bruce Cockburn, Peter Murphy, Steve Bell), Jeanine can be found working in theatre as music director, arranger, actor and stage musician. This is a natural cross over for Jeanine apparent in her candour and "quickbeam humour" on stage.

Since the release of He's Here Jeanine has been busy with Christmas concerts in Ontario and Vancouver as well as three tours in Europe in the past year, teaching and performing at Christian Arts Conferences in Austria and the Netherlands, and tours in Germany and Scotland with excellent response and high praise from both audiences and press alike.

In August of this year Jeanine rendezvoused with Kingston producer Matt Baetz (Spora, Lacklustre (formerly Flood), Bumble Puppy, Infotourist) at Freswick Castle on the northern tip of Scotland. With a laptop and some microphones they started work a new recording. This collection of raw, naked songs inspired by the northern Scottish landscape is due to be released late 2007.

Awards and Nominations

• Two Dora Nominations (2003) for A Dixie Gospel with Brookstone Performing Arts:
  • outstanding performance by a female in a principal role
  • outstanding music direction
• Thalia's Voice Regional finalist (competition for Canadian female performers)
• Amadeus Choir Carol Writing Competition honourable mention for "He's Here" (for choir)
• Longshot Live compilation CD contest
• FACTOR New Talent Demo Award

Other Notable Gigs (selected)

• 2000 Candles — Brookstone Performing Arts
• Edinburgh Fringe Festival — music director and keyboardist, "That's Life"
• Glenn Gould Studio, Toronto — IMAGO 30th Anniversary Celebration
• Openers and shared stages (selected):
  • Larry Norman
  • Iona
  • Blaise Pascal
  • Katherine Wheatley
• Backing Vocals (selected recordings):
  • Mike Shields
  • Kevin Head
  • Grant Heckman
  • Matt Baetz
• Covered Tunes:
  • "My Love" and "Long Way Home" by Vibe Award Nominee Anita Paul

Reviews

The magic has a name: Jeanine Noyes! The lady with great personal presence works with a voice which enchants. No matter if a capella, accompanied with guitar or with piano — the sound of this voice expresses everything, which is needed for dedication and longing. Jeanine Noyes is able to sing a prayer like an angel or chants "I love you" like a mantra … absolutely astonishing!

Frankenpost, 18.07.06
Bavaria, Germany

Jeanine Noyes captures the span of human emotion in her artfully crafted songs. She keeps the audience enraptured with her melancholy wrapped lines and then bounces them back with an uproarious number on her mandolin. A fine performer.

Anna-Liza Kozma
Producer, "Tapestry"
CBC Radio

Noyes, who now lives in Toronto, is playing with some great talent that helps make her shine. They are doing what a good band does best -- hot players playing hot music. Noyes and company are steaming in fact, creating interesting musical arrangements with a sensual groove.

Kyra Walker
"Kingston This Week"
Kingston, Ontario
Mar 22, 2002

Jeanine is a very fine vocalist. I don't know how many times I've heard "Abide With Me" and I don't think I've ever heard a performance as beautiful as that. Thank you.

Bill Richardson
"Richardson's Round Up"
CBC Radio

My favorite song [on the Longshot Live CD], however, is by Jeanine Noyes. It's a plaintive, emotional tune that imaginatively uses what sounds like Gregorian chant.

Greg Burliuk
The Whig Standard
Kingston, Ontario

My own personal highlight [of Kingston's All Folks Festival] was the surprise three-song set by Kingston native/Toronto resident Jeanine Noyes, beautifully accompanied by [Doug] Reansbury and [Roger] James. A strong and sensual singer and songwriter, Noyes is definitely someone to watch out for.

Stephen Michael O'Grady
STUDIO (Kingston Arts and Entertainment Magazine)

Jeanine's songs combine sweet pop hooks with an acute sense of personal irony. She draws me in. I laugh and cry at my foibles and follies, like having a gab with an old friend.

Jane Miller
"Disco Goalie"
"Wind May Do Damage"

It'd be difficult to find a more entertaining or thoughtful holiday offering than 2000 Candles . . . Performed by a versatile quartet (Ins Choi, Jeanine Noyes, Richard Peters and Tracy Thomas) who are asked to sing, act and play instruments -- one minute they're a bluegrass band, the next they're a gospel choir -- the show's individual pieces are well-rounded, fluid and always theatrical . . . Carson avoids the predictable. A sensual and almost erotic sequence about the joys of holiday eating and drinking, for instance, doesn't lead to a sermon on gluttony and excess. And Jeanine Noyes's arrangements of songs old, new and from different cultures are revelatory.

Rating: NNNN
By Glenn Sumi
NOW, DEC 14 - 20, 2000, VOL. 20 NO. 15

A wonderful musical! An amazingly talented cast. Noyes sings like an angel.

Michael Coren, CFRB
Toronto, Ontario