Bill Brennan’s expertise as a pianist, percussionist, composer and producer can be heard on some 130 albums to date. His most recent album Kaleidoscope – Music for Mallet Instruments won the 2023 MusicNL Classical Artist of the Year award. His recording with Andrea Koziol I’ll Be Seeing You garnered the 2019 MusicNL Jazz and Blues Award. His album Solo Piano 2 won the MusicNL Instrumental album of the year in 2008. His album Solo Piano received nominations for MusicNL and ECMA Instrumental Album of the Year. He was musical director of CBC’s beloved Vinyl Café, and a documentary composer for The Nature of Things. He has performed on film soundtracks including The Ice Storm (directed by Ang Lee) and Antwone Fisher (directed by Denzel Washington).
Internationally, his work has been formally recognized through prestigious awards and commissions, including the Freddie Stone Memorial Award. Always in demand as a folk and jazz pianist, Brennan performs regularly with his own projects. He has performed across North America and around the world: Indonesia, Austria, Germany, France, Japan, Norway, the Czech Republic, England, Portugal and Switzerland.
More than 35 years of relentless experience have garnered Brennan a solid reputation as a player, composer and arranger of contemporary classical, jazz, folk and world music — always exploring, always open to new ideas, Brennan’s talents resist classification.
The Toronto Star says: “Brennan is a central figure in this country’s music.”