Tamar Ilana & Ventanas is a Toronto-based band that performs original and traditional material in over 20 languages, weaving in and out of fiery Flamenco dance and music, Greek, Turkish and Sephardic love songs, upbeat Bulgarian dance tunes, and lyrical original melodies, while leading captive audiences through windows into other lands, times and cultures. Lead singer Tamar Ilana's powerful vocals, honed through a lifetime of performing internationally, evoke deep emotions. Add to this the intensity of Flamenco guitar and dance, the excitement of Middle Eastern darbuka, the soulful sounds of Greek oud and baglama, the haunting sounds of classical violin and contrabass, and the flare of Jazz improvisation and you have one unforgettable show full of music, dance and inspiration.

Tamar Ilana is Ashkenazi Jewish and a member of Pasqua First Nation (Treaty 4) with some Scottish and Roma-Romanian ancestry mixed in. She grew up on the road performing and traveling with her ethnomusicologist mother, Dr. Judith Cohen, which deeply influenced her life and career. The members of Ventanas are from various backgrounds (including Greek, Italian, French Canadian, Peruvian) and all grew up playing music and performing since they were children. The project originally formed in 2011 when Tamar moved back to Toronto from Seville, where she had been living and studying Flamenco in Seville. Ventanas, meaning “windows” in Spanish, merges the members’ musical and cultural backgrounds together, creating their own sound which reflects the sound of their city, Toronto.

During the pandemic, Ventanas helped found FabCollab, a not-for-profit performing arts organization that showcases BIPOC women and minority voices. They are the resident house band for FabCollab’s signature series, Women in Song, which has led them to collaborate with internationally renowned artists such as Meesha Shafi, Measha Bruggergosman-Lee, Eliana Cuevas, Amanda Martinez, Joanna Majoko, OKAN, Sintayehu “Mimi” Zenebe, Rosary Spence, Cotee Harper, Seanna Bailey, Ooldouz Pouri, Athina Malli, Leen Hamo, Tara Moneka, Suba Sankaran, and Paromita Kar among others. These shows have been livestreamed by the National Arts Centre to international audiences of up to 43,000.

Tamar Ilana & Ventanas have toured throughout Canada and the US, as well as in Ireland, Colombia, Spain, and Portugal and they have been featured in venues and festivals such as Koerner Hall, the National Arts Centre, the Skirball Centre Los Angeles, Vancouver Folk Music Fest, the Aga Khan Museum, Carmel Bach Fest, Yerba Buena Centre San Francisco, the Mississauga Living Arts Centre, Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Skirball Centre Los Angeles, Niagara Jazz Fest, Shambhala, Montreal’s Palais Montcalm, the Wales International Storytelling Fest, La Media Torta Bogotá, the Festival Internacional Folk Plasencia in Spain.

ABOUT THE ALBUM AZADI 

Azadi means “Freedom” in Urdu and Farsi. This album is a reflection on the different forms of freedom we all long to experience: the freedom to sing, to dance, to speak our respective languages, to express our multiple identities and to be accepted. Together, we weave our way through this life and through this world, and together we can help each other to be free.

AZADI, our 4th album, has traditional Flamenco, Sephardic and Balkan songs as well as original works composed by the members of Ventanas, three of which were composed for and debuted with the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra in 2022. Languages include Spanish, Ladino, French, English, Urdu, Hebrew, Greek, Portuguese, and Bulgarian. The album is produced by Tyler Emond (Ghost Town Sound), mastered by Justin Gray (Immersive Mastering), and distributed worldwide by Lulaworld Records.

“I have always struggled with my multiple identities, both cultural and genetic. Who am I? Where am I from? Where do I fit in? As the world also struggles with these issues on multiple fronts, this album is a deep reflection of these questions, and a musical response in the form of peace, collaboration and acceptance.” – Tamar Ilana

Awards/Nominations

• 4-star review, Songlines 2024 

• Best of 2024 on Spin the Globe World Music Radio 

• Ontario Arts Council Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts; Emerging Artist Nominee

• 4-time Canadian Folk Music Awards Nominee: 

• Best World Music Group of the Year; Best Ensemble of the Year; Best Traditional Singer of the Year x2

• Jazz Ringer of the Week - Jazz Weekly

Official Showcases:

• Folk Music Ontario (Toronto 2024) 

• Your Roots are Showing (Ireland 2024) 

• Contact East (Newfoundland 2023)

• Mundial Montréal at WOMEX (Lisbon 2022)

• Folk Alliance International (Kansas City 2022) 

• Ohio Presenting Arts Network (Cleveland 2021)

• Arts Midwest online (2020) 

• CINARS/Mundial Montreal (Montreal 2018)

• Global Toronto (Toronto 2018)

• Mundial on the Road at APAP (NYC 2016)

• Pacific Contact (British Columbia 2016)

• Folk Music Ontario (Toronto 2014)

• Mundial Montreal (Montreal 2013)

• Zlatne Uste Golden Festival (Brooklyn NY, 2012)