Phil Dwyer has been a fixture on the Canadian jazz scene since he was a teenager. Saxophone, piano, composition, arranging. He does all of it, and he does it at a level that has kept him in demand for four decades. In 2013 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for his work as a performer, composer, and advocate for music education.
He has played on ten Juno Award winning recordings and over thirty nominated ones. The list of people he has worked with reads like a who's who of Canadian jazz. Dave Young. Don Thompson. Guido Basso. Molly Johnson. Diana Panton. Kenny Wheeler. Aretha Franklin. Holly Cole. The range is wide and the common thread is that he gets called when the music matters.
Dwyer lived in Toronto for years, working as a first-call studio musician, before moving back to Vancouver Island in 2004. These days he splits his time between music and law, and he has become a vocal advocate for mental health awareness. He also runs a jazz series on CBC Radio. The man stays busy.
Back on the Island
This is not Dwyer's first time at the festival. He played the church series in 2015, and he led a workshop that year in memory of Chris Driscoll. Anyone who caught him then remembers the playing. It was the kind of set where the room goes quiet because everyone is actually listening.
For this appearance he brings his trio. The format suits him. Enough room to stretch out, enough support to go somewhere interesting. If you have never heard Dwyer live, the trio is a good place to start. He moves between tenor sax and piano depending on the tune, and the band follows wherever he goes.
The details
This show is part of the 2026 festival program. Date, time, venue and ticket details will be posted on the schedule page as they are confirmed. In the meantime, keep an eye on the main lineup page for updates.
If you are a musician, watch for workshop announcements. Dwyer has taught at McGill, the Banff Centre, and the Danish Royal Academy, and his sessions tend to be as much about how to think about music as they are about technique.