| Yvette Tollar | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Occupation: | Vocalist, Composer, Producer, Educator |
| Years Active: | (2001 – present) |
| Associated Acts: | Sheila Jordan, Elizabeth Shepherd, Kevin Breit, Ernie Tollar, Maryem Tollar, Michael Occhipinti, Mike Downes, Rich Brown electric bassist |
Yvette Tollar is a Canadian jazz vocalist born in Toronto, Ontario. She has released two full-length CDs, Cactus Flowers (2001) and Ima (2008).[1] [2] Ima was a nominee for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.[3]
Yvette Tollar comes from a musical family. Her brother is Ernie Tollar, who is a Juno and Dora Award-winning saxophonist and woodwind player who has played with jazz vocalist Holly Cole and big band NOJO and composed music for film, theatre and dance. Yvette's sister-in-law is Maryem Hassan Tollar, a Juno and Dora Award-winning World Music vocalist who sang the theme song for the TV show Little Mosque On The Prairie and a featured track on the Bollywood film, Maya Maya. Yvette was married to electric bassist Rich Brown who has played with Steve Coleman, Rudresh Mahanthapa and James Blood Ulmer.
Tollar studied jazz music with vocalist Sheila Jordan in New York and with Joe Lovano, Dave Holland, and Kenny Werner at the Banff Centre for The Arts. She is the recipient of awards and scholarships from The Canada Council for The Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, The Toronto Arts Council, The Banff Centre for The Arts and FACTOR.
Tollar is a professor in The Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College where she teaches music, voice, songwriting, directed study, master classes and leads ensembles as part of the Bachelor of Music, Music Composition Graduate Certificate and the Introduction to Commercial Jazz programs. She has acted as adjudicator at both the University of Toronto and Humber College.