Quick Facts
Biography
Yvette Tollar is a Canadian jazz vocalist born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has released two full-length CDs, Cactus Flowers (2001) and Ima (2008). Ima was a nominee for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards.
Yvette Tollar comes from a musical family. Her brother is Ernie Tollar. He is a saxophone and woodwind player who has played with jazz vocalist Holly Cole and big band NOJO. Yvette was married to electric bassist Rich Brown.
Yvette 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.
Yvette is a professor in The Faculty of Media and Creative Arts and in the Introduction to Commercial Jazz programs at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario where she teaches music, voice and leads ensembles. She acted as adjudicator at both the University of Toronto and Humber College.