ARTISTS
WESLI
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wesli (Wesley Louissaint) built his first guitar out of an old NGO- provided oil can and nylon shoelace when he was just eight years old. Coming from a family of 8 
children where music was a daily food for the soul, it became second nature to him, a unique and vital way out of the violence and misery found in the surrounding ghetto. Wesli’s musical journey started in the gospel choir of his local church and then he adopted the guitar as his main instrument.
Ever since, Wesli has worked relentlessly, perfecting his art, his only hope for a better life. Very early, he took part in serious projects such as the afro-roots Jazz 4ever quartet and SoKute. He performed in many of Haiti’s concert halls and traveled abroad with Kreyol Mikiz company. In his teens, Wesli produced and recorded the album Horizon with SoKute. Their soul music gathered wide success and even made them famous outside Haiti.
The release of his second album, Liberté dans le noir, in December 2011, has confirmed those affirmations. The 17 tracks feature duos with many major bands and artists: the great Tiken Jah Fakoly, Mes Aïeux, Radio Radio, Paul Cargnello, Boogat and Karma Atchykah.
Already, it has gathered much success:
Top 25 Album of the year 2011, Voir.ca newspaper (barely 6 days after its release), Top 3 World Music Album of the Year 2011, le Devoir newspaper 4.5 stars Album ranking, Voir.ca 4 stars Album ranking, 24h Montréal. The song “Né sous le soleil” was Top #1 for over a week, followed by Top #2, right behind La Bottine souriante over the holidays 2011. Moreover, Wesli has produced, composed and arranged musical creations for films, including CBC’s documentary about Dany Laferrière. He composed, with Ariane Moffatt, Nomadic Massive and Doba, the popular song “Nap chante pou Ayiti” the day after the earthquake in Haiti, on January 12th, 2010.
He also collaborated with other Montreal artists as an artistic director and composer, namely for Senaya and Sara Rénélik as well as working as a musical director for Line 1 Company.
Be it in an acoustic formation or with his big band, Wesli consistently delivers a rich, festive and uniquely engaging sound. He conquers the heart of his audience through complex musical arrangements and universal messages of hope, truth and peace. Critics have crowned him “the strongest world creature Montreal presently has to offer internationally” Alain Brunet, La Presse.
FERLINE REGIS
Ferline Regis Ottawa based vocalist, song writer, singing teacher and vocal coach was surrounded by music growing up in a home with parents that loved music. Ferline developed an appreciation for Gospel music and always had a song on her lips and in her heart. Coming from Haitian background, Ferline grew up hearing and loving Afro-Caribbean music and was also exposed to R&B, Soul, pop and jazz. She is heavily influenced by such greats as Mahalia Jackson, Edith Piaf, Whitney Houston, Emeline Michel, Ginette Reno, Cece Winans, Andraé Crouch, Yolanda Adams, and Tasha Cobbs. Described as sounding like Ginette Reno and Sarah Vaughan, Ferline has a distinctively rich and soulful sound that captivates listeners. She has extensive performance experience singing at the Canadian National Arts Centre, the parliament of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Ottawa, Bluesfest and the festivities of Canada Day.
Ferline holds a specialized bachelor’s degree of Arts with Major in Arts Administration, Major in Music from University of Ottawa. Ferline released her Debut solo Album in July 2015 and plans to release her second full length album in the fall of 2018. Ferline hopes her songs will bring joy, hope, encouragement and empowerment to the listener.
She was honored to receive the certificate of completion of the House of Commons of Canada for her contribution to the growth of the arts community in Ottawa and was named one of the Ontario 100 women of careers for her artistic achievements. Most notably, her performances and song writing earned her a finalist spot in the 26th edition of Ontario POP and became the recipient of a multiple grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Ottawa.
LeFLOFRANCO
Ottawa-based hip-hop sensation, LeFLOFRANCO brings to the table a sound high in energy mixed with heartfelt lyrical content. Striving to push Hip-Hop’s sound towards new heights, he refers to his unique sound as : multicolored urban pop.
FLO seeks to bring a colourful outlook to what can sometimes be somber times. Production-wise, he wants to take you on a musical journey going from modern Hip-Hop, to Trap, to EDM all the way to the Caribbean Soca vibes, reggae fusion and music from his Haitian background; Kompa. As far as the lyrical content goes, they tend to dive into an emotion, explore it while shedding some light onto his personal life, his hopes and aspirations.
The delivery may be in French but the music transcends and is sure to move any and all audiences; young and old. FLO believes that variety is the spice of life and adding colours and nuances to his offerings simply provides his audiences with a broader palette of emotions and sounds, thus, he takes great pleasure in collaborating with a variety of producers and beat makers from the Montreal-based-award-winning Sonny Black & his production team; The HookCo., to Ontario’s rising producers; DJ UNPIER, CHEVDOT & DJ SKORPYON.
In 2019, LeFLOFRANCO released his first full-length LP “Force Inhérente”. Since the album launch, two music videos were released; the festive-summer-ready “Bal exotique” and the gritty-thought-provoking “ON EN A ASSEZ!” and he’s been touring the album from Ontario to British Columbia.
DJENNIE LAGUERRE
Actress, Author and Storyteller, Djennie Laguerre is a graduate of the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory (New York) and the University of Ottawa (BAC in Art; Theatre and Literature). She has been applauded as the performer and author) of Manman la mer at Théâtre la Catapulte and Espoir/ Espwa (which she authored with Carline Zamar, Edwige Jean-Pierre) Le malade imaginaire, *LES ZINSPIRÉS and LES ZINSPIRÉS 3D at, Seventeen (Anonymous) Women at the Infintheatre and REZ SISTERS at Factory Theatre. She is the author and performer of Rendez-vous with Home/Lakay at the SummerWorks Festival, 2008, & at the Théâtre français de Toronto, 2010 ALSO presented in several storytelling festivals such as Les Contes nomades (NAC) and Le Festival du loup de Lafontaine. She is proud of the ambitious tour of both English and French versions of Rendez-vous with Home/ Lakay with the iconic Black Theatre Workshop (Montreal, February 2018, and November 2019) and the English version with Roseneath Theatre in Toronto Feburary, 20202
Film/TV: Flashpoint, Degrassi Junior High and your kids know her as Mrs Happiness/Madame Bonheur, from MiniTFO/CBC.
She received the Spotlight Award at the SummerWorks Festival in 2008 forworkshop production of Rendez-Vous with Home. She was nominated for the Dora Awards for “Outstanding Performance – Individual” for Rendezvous with Home 2020, for Les Zinspirés 3D, in the categories “Outstanding Performance – Individual” and “Outstanding Performance – Ensemble” and a nomination for “Best Actress” at the METAs Awards 2018 for Rendez-vous Home/ Lakay.
