Justin Duhaime

Justin Duhaime is a passionate guitarist, composer and educator with a deep commitment to music. Justin bought his first guitar at the age of 12. At 14 years old, he was practicing and composing 6 to 16 hours a day. At 18, he took his first guitar lessons and subsequently pursued formal music studies. He has studied with David Liebman, Vic Juris, Denis Chang, Jesse Stewart, Roddy Ellias, Mark Ferguson, and Tim Bedner among others.

Justin’s musical interests are wide ranging. He has performed rock, jazz, metal, classical, reggae, Carnatic, blues, indie, and more. Most recently, Justin has emerged as a leading figure in the jazz manouche scene in Ottawa, having organized concerts featuring Tcha Limberger, Stephane Wrembel, Denis Chang, and with his own group Gypsy Muse. He has an affinity for driving rhythms, textural contrast, luscious harmony and virtuosity.

Justin is one of three finalists for the Ottawa Arts Council’s 2018 RBC Emerging Artist Award. One of three musicians to ever be nominated for the award. Justin is endorsed by DK Guitars with The Black Sword. Justin is fluent in French and English and has been teaching in both languages since 2005. In 2015 Justin self-published an instructional book on guitar entitled Justin Duhaime’s Guitar Guide. Justin has written more than 40 compositions, done over 150 live performances and has published over 300 videos on YouTube.

“Justin Duhaime approached me for some guitar lessons in 2017. I loved his musicianship immediately: plenty of great ideas, well played, and a clearly abundant work ethic. I’ve taught guitarists all over Canada and haven’t heard any more promising than Justin.”

– Mike Rud (Juno award winning musician)

“Justin took several classes with me […] his work was exceptional, consistently demonstrating a high level of creativity, musicianship, and originality. Even then, his work was of such high calibre that it did not seem like that of an undergraduate student, but rather the work of an innovative professional musician.”

– Jesse Stewart (Juno award winning musician and professor)