Craig Morrison & Samantha Borgal’s “Sentimental Journey Over the Rainbow”

Craig Morrison, Ph.D., is an ethnomusicologist who teaches courses on popular music and it roots at Concordia University and lectures for various institutions including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He is the author of two books and numerous articles on music. As a bandleader and musician-on vocals, guitars, and keyboards-Morrison has produced 11 CDs. His band Vintage Wine performs regularly, and his Annual Roots of Rock and Roll Concert at the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, each year with a different theme and with as many as 16 musicians and singers on stage, has been presented 20 times to date.

Samantha Borgal is a performing artist, certified music therapist, voice teacher & choir director. Samantha began performing classical voice at age 9 at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts under the vocal direction of Ms. Jane Howlett. She was the recipient of numerous awards for her vocal performance and musicality in vocal exams and at the Kiwanis Music Festival. At the University of Windsor, she studied voice with Professor Steven Henrikson & Catherine McKeever, garnering much accolade for her fine level of musicianship & mastery of vocal technique. In 2011 she was selected to perform the Concerto Showcase with the Windsor Community Orchestra. She graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Music Therapy after completing her music therapy palliative care internship in Montreal, QC under the supervision of Deborah Salmon. In Montreal, Samantha began her career as a music therapist specializing in music therapy in palliative care and dementia care. She continued voice lessons with Dr. Irene Feher while establishing her practice as a music therapist. Through her internship, Samantha began performing with Craig Morrison popular standards within his Annual Roots of Rock N Roll concert series and at the Maimonides Battle of Bands. She has performed with the likes of Robby Krieger, Tito Jackson, Jim Cuddy & Steven Page. In 2013, Samantha became the lead soloist under the Music Direction of Robert Sigmund at the Montreal West United Church. From 2016 to 2018 Samantha was a chorister with the award-winning Choeur Adleisia under the direction of Amelia McMahon & Virginie Pacheco. In 2018 Samantha was a soloist in the Lee Mingwei Sonic Blossom exhibit at the Phi Foundation for Contemporary Art offering the gift of song through the music of Franz Schubert. In 2018 Samantha founded Odyssey Music Therapy, specializing in music therapy services throughout the community of Montreal while continuing to perform. In 2020 Samantha became the Music Director for the Montreal West United Church, Samantha and Craig founded their duo The Musical Memories and will be expanding her voice studio in the Fall. Through her roots in classical voice and standard pop music spanning from 1920-1970 along with her career as a music therapist, Samantha believes that all music has it’s value and purpose, and all people are innately musical, able to appreciate music and able to be musical within their own abilities.