One and a half weeks.
That’s how long Eli Bennett had to mull over the fact that he had been invited to perform onstage for the opening of the Juno Awards, one of Canada’s biggest events, with Michael Bublé, one of Canada’s biggest stars.
Although Bennett, a successful producer and saxophonist, is no stranger to the limelight thanks to his accomplished career and tackling life with his world-famous spouse, violinist Rosemary Siemens, the invitation came as a surprise.
“It was a bit surreal,” says Bennett. “[It was] a great honour because it's the biggest night in Canadian music, so to be on that stage, backing up Michael for the Juno Awards — it was just an honour.”
A gig for the history books
The annual Juno Awards celebrate the achievements of the Canadian music industry. The 2025 winners of the star-studded event include Dean Brody, Tate McRae, The Weeknd, and Shawn Mendez.
According to Bennett, the opening of the awards ceremony was just as elaborate as the outfits on the show’s orange carpet. The performance saw Michael Bublé (the evening’s host), his band, and a “number of other featured artists,” including Bennett, performing an arrangement of the Canadian crooner’s hits.
Of course, Bennett found himself in the horn section.
“I was playing tenor saxophone ... and there were two trumpets and a trombone,” he says. “It was an incredible experience.”
Leading up to the big day
While one might expect a generous timeline to prepare for such a larger-than-life show, this wasn’t the case.
After Bennett received his invitation approximately a week and a half before the ceremony — already a tight timeline — the rehearsal itself only began the day before the event.
“We met at Rogers Arena in Vancouver ... on Saturday, and we had our rehearsals for a number of hours and then all day on Sunday before the show went live,” says Bennett.
Given the turnaround, one might ask how the show went.
“It went perfectly. It was a great opening number,” he says.
So, what is Michael Bublé like?
Bennett, who plays a significant amount of jazz in his own music and has his own jazz album, found playing with Bublé especially memorable since he is more than familiar with the fellow musician's work.
Meeting Bublé was also a highlight for Bennett. He says the Juno host is a “great guy.”
“He's the same on camera and off camera, which doesn't always happen with headliners. I was really struck by his coming to meet us all at rehearsals and shake our hands,” he says.
“Even minutes before he was going live at the Junos, he was backstage shaking everyone's hand and making sure everyone was good to go and feeling good.”
The award show circuit
Although this was Bennett’s first appearance at the Junos, he's no stranger to performing on big stages. He’s had the opportunity to perform at a handful of other awards ceremonies, too.
“I was actually joking with my wife, Rosemary, that I've been on a bit of an award show performance circuit, having performed twice at the Grammy Awards, the Leo Awards, the Gospel Music Awards, the Inspirational Country Music Awards and now the Juno Awards,” he says. “We were kind of laughing that I perform exclusively at award shows.”
Hymns with Rosemary, a Polish jazz festival
Although it would seem difficult to top a performance at the Junos, it is only one small part of the projects that Bennett is currently involved in.
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The YouTube channel that he runs with Rosemary Siemens has just reached 600K subscribers, and Bennett has solo projects on the go, too.
“I also tour with my own jazz project, and I was in Poland playing for an amazing Jazz Festival with some of Poland's best jazz musicians last summer," he says. "It's going to be a live album that will be released.”
These days, Bennett is undertaking the monumental task of writing the original score for a documentary about Route 66 that will be released next year to celebrate its 100-year anniversary. He also serves as the music director for the Leo Awards, which he says is a film and TV awards show in British Columbia.
All in all, he is content and excited about the projects that he tackles and, of course, enjoys doing it all alongside his loved ones.
“[There are] a lot of great opportunities, and we're really excited to do all those things together as a family,” he says.
With files from Robyn Wiebe