The Polaris prize grand jury has been announced—Anupa Mistry makes final cut

The Polaris prize shortlist was already announced about a month ago, but today Polaris revealed the jury and hosts for the sixth annual gala, which will include performances by shortlisters Ron Sexsmith, Galaxie, Hey Rosetta!, Austra, Braids and Timber Timbre. According to Polaris, some members of Arcade Fire will be present, but there will be no performance, and Colin Stetson, Destroyer and The Weeknd have all had to pass on the opportunity due to prior commitments (Stetson is performing with Bon Iver). The hosts are CBC Radio 3’s Grant Lawrence and Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham, and the grand jury includes freelance writer Anupa Mistry, who recently wrote a provocative piece for Toronto Life about how rap music has become decidedly middle-class. She’ll be joining Billboard’s Karen Bliss, Yukon, North of Ordinary’s Elaine Corden, La Presse’s Emilie Côt, CKUA’s Tom Coxworth, CIUT’s David Dacks, Times Colonist’s Mike Devlin, Bande à part’s Yuani Fragata, the Hamilton Spectator’s Graham Rockingham, the Much MTV Group’s Gregg Stewart and Q104’s Anna Zee. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.