2022 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Voting Is Now Open
Voting for the 2022 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize has opened. This annual campaign encourages public voting to discover and support exceptional Canadian music albums from the past. The companion award to the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are also Canadian albums of artistic distinction, without regard to sales, genre or affiliation. This is our version of a hall of fame where we try to honour meritorious Canadian albums that pre-date when Polaris began in 2006.
Go HERE to vote.
This year there are 12 nominated albums up for consideration:
Lillian Allen – Revolutionary Tea Party
Bran Van 3000 – Glee
Leonard Cohen – Various Positions
Four The Moment – We’re Still Standing
k.d. lang – Ingénue
Kardinal Offishall – Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol 1
Martha and the Muffins – This is the Ice Age
Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy – Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy
Rascalz – Cash Crop
SNFU – …And No One Else Wanted To Play
Stars – Set Yourself on Fire
The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving
Heritage Prize balloting was officially opened on Monday, Sept. 19 during the 2022 Polaris Gala, where Pierre Kwenders’ José Louis And The Paradox Of Love album was awarded the 17th annual Polaris Music Prize.
Two of these albums will receive Heritage Prize designation this year. One album will be chosen by public vote campaign and a second will be determined by a Heritage Prize jury made up of music media and music historians.
This year’s Heritage list features six returning nominated albums (Revolutionary Tea Party, Glee, Ingénue, This is the Ice Age, Set Yourself on Fire, and Left and Leaving) and six first-time album nominations (Various Positions, We’re Still Standing, Quest for Fire: Firestarter, Vol 1, Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy, Cash Crop and ...And No One Else Wanted To Play).
Voters will be able to submit ballots once per day. Voting closes Friday, Oct. 14 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT. The new Heritage Prize designates will be revealed Friday, Oct. 21.
Heritage Prize winners are commemorated with limited-edition artwork commissioned and inspired by the music on these designated albums. Examples of past winners’ works, including those honouring the likes of last year’s winners Nomeansno and Faith Nolan, can be found HERE.
The Heritage Prize campaign represents the final marquee event in a Polaris season that also included the return of the live Polaris Gala spectacular on September 19, the Polaris Music Prize 2022 Poster Launch & Exhibition, a month-long gallery takeover at Underscore Projects (1486 Dundas Street West, Toronto), the 40 album Polaris Long List reveal on June 14, and the 10 album Short List reveal on July 14.
This year’s Heritage Prize jury included Michael Barclay, Elizabeth Chorney-Booth, Erin McLeod, Phyllis Grant, DJ MelBoogie, Morgan Mullin, Darcy MacDonald, Shawn Conner, Sandra Sperounes, Rob Bowman, and, for the first time, an official guest musician juror, Danko Jones.
Thirty-five albums have received Heritage Prize designation since its introduction in 2015. Past winning albums include Peaches’ The Teaches Of Peaches, Harmonium’s L’Heptade, Glenn Gould’s Bach: The Goldberg Variations, Dream Warriors’ And Now the Legacy Begins and Buffy Sainte-Marie’s It’s My Way!
We acknowledge the financial support of FACTOR, the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters.
