Josephine Biundo - Let There Be Love (2008)

In case her effervescent personality doesn’t make it perfectly obvious, singer Josephine Biundo wants to assure you that that she’s a born entertainer. “I’m naturally very much a people person,” she says divulging a trait that has stood out like an exclamation point since childhood. “I’d always sing and dance at family gatherings at a very young age.” (And like any up-and-coming young musician, she admits debt to her supportive family, who never complain about the noise.) Biundo has since emerged as a passionate singer and heartfelt singer/songwriter who’s as serious about her craft as she is about the joy of singing.

A 20-year-old former honours student at Mohawk College’s jazz music program, she has won numerous songwriting competitions over the past several years. Her proudest is an International win, first runner up in an original song competition at the International Festival of Napoli.

Studying under some of the top vocal coaches in Canada has given her a range and versatility that has served her well. Playing in diverse settings has also strengthened her chops. In April, she took part in the Hamilton All Star Jazz Band’s recreation of Duke Ellington’s 1954 Hamilton Forum Concert. But you might just as easily catch her in a classical setting, singing standards at a wedding, fronting a rock/R&B five piece band Stella or playing an intimate acoustic gig. Discipline, she says, is everything. “It’ like training to run a marathon,” she explains, nothing that her work as a vocal instructor at the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts and Binbrook’s Broadway Bound Studio helps keep her voice in shape.