Laura Maria Fernandez (born 1960 on 20 May) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, music producer, artist, radio host, and real estate agent. Fernandez was born in Madrid, Spain. In 2003, she was named Best Soft Rock musician at the New York International Independent Music Festival. She hosts Café Latino on JazzFM91 (formerly CJRT), Toronto, and her Latin-music was produced by Billy Bryans.CBC Billy Bryans Testimonial
Billy Bryans Testimonial.Tandem Magazine Funny Girls and Divas fundraiser article
, Laura Fernandez music produced by Billy Bryans.

Early life

Fernandez was born in Madrid, Spain. She moved from Madrid to Switzerland and then to Calgary, Alberta, Canada with her family. Her father was an engineer, writer and a painter. In grade 7 she studied piano at

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

.Beach Metro Community News
Laura Fernandez bio in Beach Metro News. She graduated from the

Alberta College of Art and Design The Alberta University of the Arts (AUArts) is a public art university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution that operates four academic schools. The institution originated from the art departme ...

with Honours (1983). She met artist Rick Jacobson while in college. They married and moved to Toronto, Ontario. They started their own business: Jacobson Fernandez Illustration.

Visual arts

Fernandez painted the

Maple leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along th ...

logo for

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled an ...

.REM Monthly article by Susan Duran "Life’s an adventure for multi-tasking Laura Fernandez"
Laura Fernandez featured in REM Monthly. Fernandez also created the painted

trillium ''Trillium'' (trillium, wakerobin, toadshade, tri flower, birthroot, birthwort, and sometimes "wood lily") is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. ''Trillium'' species are native to temperate regions of No ...

used on the Ontario Driver's License. Fernandez has done illustrations for children's book like ''Jeremiah Learns to Read'', ''Picasso Soul On Fire'', '' Anne of Green Gables'', and ''The Magnificent Piano Recital''.OaC announces Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners
, Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson announced as Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners.
, The Magnificent Piano Recital illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson Can Lit Awards listing.
Canadian Library Association literary awards list
, Picasso Soul On Fire illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson shortlisted for the 2005 Amelia Francis Howard-Gibbon Award. She has also produced work for Margaret Atwood,

Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...

, Richard Francis Burton, Bill Gates, Sr., David Thomson, and

Christopher Ondaatje Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE, FRSL (; born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian–English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of the author Mic ...

.Royal Geographical Society Picture Library online
, Rick Jacobson and Laura Fernandez commission for Christopher Ondaatje's book 'Sindh Revisited' donated by C. Ondaatje. Fernandez has won awards with Rick Jacobson, including the Toronto Art Director's Awards, Communication Arts Magazine's Award of Excellence, the Ruth Schwartz Award, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners
, Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award winners. and the

Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award was presented annually by the Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques (CLA) to an outstanding illustrator of a new Canadian children's book. The book must be "suita ...

gold medal for illustration from the

Canadian Library Association The Canadian Library Association (CLA) was a national, predominantly English-language association which represented 57,000 library workers across Canada. It also spoke for the interests of the 21 million Canadians who are members of libraries. C ...

for the Magnificent Piano Recital in 2001.

Music career

Fernandez started song writing when she was 12, writing in Spanish. She won the Soft Rock Award at the International Independent Music Festival in 2003.Canadian World Music
Laura Fernandez Canadian World Music Festival List. She released her first album, ''The Other Side,'' in 2003. She hosted an

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

night from 2003 to 2008. In 2008, Fernandez started as

radio host A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a radi ...

for Cafe Latino on JazzFM91. She released a Latin music album in 2010 called ''Un Solo Beso,'' which was produced by Billy Bryans. In 2020 Laura Fernandez released a collection of 13 songs titled ''Okay, Alright'', which she co-produced with Grammy award-winning producer and mastering engineer Peter J Moore. She continues to perform live.Laura Fernandez as part of Hugh's Room Jazz Series
Singer's Jazz Series.The Scene Magazine announces 2013 Winter Folk lineup
Laura Fernandez showcase at the Winter Folk Festival.WinterFolk
, Laura Fernandez assisting WinterFolk.
Laura Fernandez one of the headliners at the Pan American Latin Jazz Festival. Fernandez is sponsored by Steinway & Sons. She is one of 19 Canadian musicians sponsored by Steinway.

Real estate

Fernandez has been selling

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

since 2007. She received the Diamond Award for Excellence in Real Estate.

Discography

*2003 – ''The Other Side'' (Independent) *2010 – ''Un Solo Beso'' (Independent) *2020 – ''Okay, Alright''

References

External links

* (primarily as musician)
Laura Fernandez
at Jazz FM 91, where she is radio host
Jacobson Fernandez Illustration and Design
(archived 2014-12-20) * (under 'Fernández, Laura' with diacritic and without '1960–', previous page of browse report) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Laura 1960 births Canadian children's book illustrators Canadian women pianists Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian radio personalities Canadian real estate agents Jazz radio presenters Latin jazz singers Latin jazz pianists Living people Spanish emigrants to Canada 21st-century Canadian pianists Canadian women radio presenters 21st-century Canadian women musicians 21st-century women pianists