ESTHER PENNELL
Esther Pennell is a Mi’kmaq singer songwriter living in North Bay Ontario. As a solo performer she accompanies herself on banjo. In a non-traditional style all her own, she has made a name for herself as an innovator in the Folk music circles of Northern Ontario and Montreal Quebec.
Esther is a prolific songwriter with 3 full length albums of her original music released since 2016. Her newest album was recorded with and produced by well known local artist Peter Cliché. This album, BIG DREAM, was released at the beginning of 2020 and has been a great success, Garnering a nomination for Country Album of the Year by Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards 2021
ABOUT AWA NIAGARA FALLS FESTIVAL
Founded in 2011 by international artist Sonia Aimy, African Women Acting (AWA) is an incorporated non-profit organization. The organization aims to empower, promote and preserve African cultural arts of all modalities in Ontario. These include vocal and instrumental music, theatre, dance, visual arts, spoken word, story-telling and poetry.
In order to comprehensively achieve our goal, we ardently support female African artists and those of the diaspora and champion related issues. As we are a community of women, the agenda of addressing social activism for social issues such as sexism, discrimination, racism, homelessness, gender-based violence and mental health are some aimed at to eradicate. Through artistic expressions, AWA brings these issues to light and offers knowledge, support and solutions.
Although AWA prioritizes promoting female African artists, we strongly believe in inclusivity in the arts community. We encourage partnerships and collaborations with artists of all genders, ethnicities and religious or spiritual beliefs.