OUR TEAM

Lenz is home to a talented collective of award-winning musicians, writers, producers, artists and engineers. A blend of youth and experience, the Lenz music team has proven capable of creating any score, original song, edit or mix for any production with unparalleled quality.

Composers:

Jack Lenz is an acclaimed composer, producer and musical director.
 
Throughout his prolific career he has composed music for motion pictures television, documentaries, Canadian news programs and award shows. He has also been the musical director of numerous live to broadcast events and award shows such as the CMT awards, the Gemini’s and the Genies, and has directed studio sessions in countries around the world including Canada, the U.S.A., Great Britain, Russia and Slovakia.

Lenz’s passion for music, television, film and the arts has translated into a thriving business - Lenz Entertainment. Based in Toronto, Canada, the company was founded in 1992 and specializes in music production, television and feature film production as well as artist development and management. Jack Lenz has received countless awards and commendations and his work is sought after by leading artists, directors and producers from around the world.

In 1997, Jack teamed up with Jamie Shannon and Jason Hopley, a multi-talented puppeteer duo also known as The Grogs. Together, they launched 3 J’s Productions under the banner of Lenz  Entertainment. Celebrating the spirit of Jim Henson, 3 J’s Productions is dedicated to making distinctive children’s programming that can be seen worldwide on networks including CBC, YTV, Nickelodeon, PBS, BBC and The Disney Channel.

At the age of 5 Asher Lenz began playing the piano with such maturity and ease that there was no question he was born to create music for the world. At 15, Asher was accepted into the prestigious Interlochen music academy in Interlochen, Michigan where he studied music composition and piano performance. Upon graduation he moved to New York City to study Jazz composition with acclaimed pianist and arranger Mike Longo, and in 2000 Asher moved to Toronto, Canada to follow in his father’s footsteps and begin his career as a music composer and producer with Lenz Entertainment.

Actively working in the music industry for almost a decade now, Asher is considered one of the most prolific young composers in Canada.  He has written themes and scores to numerous television productions including, “Sue Thomas F.B.eye”, “Atomic Betty”, “Love you to Death”, and the CBC news, as well as original score and songs for films “Men with Brooms”, “The Passion of the Christ”, and “Prom Night in Mississippi”.

In addition to a successful career in TV and film, Asher has recently teamed up with singer-songwriter Adam Crossley to write an expanding repertoire of hit songs, including “So She Dances” for multi-platinum recording artist, Josh Groban, and “Go Where Love Goes”, co-written with Jack Lenz, for Opera legend Andrea Bocelli. The young music duo is setting the bar high for Canadian songwriting and is sure to have a long and successful career.

Douglas John Cameron grew up in Midland, Ontario where he studied piano and began composing songs at the age of nine. Throughout high school and University he styled himself after the folk-singers of the 
day and played bass and guitar in rock, country and quasi-jazz bands.

In the late 70s and early 80s Douglas was part of the nascent ‘New Wave’ scene in Toronto.

In 1985 Douglas teamed up with composer and producer Jack Lenz to produce “Mona With The Children”, a single released on True North Records. The song and video told the story of a sixteen- year-old girl who had been imprisoned and executed in Iran because of her beliefs. “Mona” went top twenty in Canada and told Mona’s story to a generation of young people, garnering a Juno nomination.

As the whirlwind experience of rock stardom wound down, Douglas entered the Music Program at York University, earning an honours degree with a major in voice. He also began to transform himself into a children’s entertainer, aka Douglas John.

Douglas John's first album for children entitled Rainbows was produced by the legendary Ken Whiteley of famed singer, Raffi.

Douglas John also wrote and recorded over 30 songs for Ants In Your Pants, Canada's top preschool music video program seen on Treehouse TV. Ants In Your Pants! Volume 1 was nominated for a Juno award in 2000.

His next children's album Tickadeeboo! (2002) was entirely self-produced and performed.

Douglas John has also composed extensively for television. His credits include Go For It and The Body Inside (Discovery Channel), Dear America (HBO), Designer Guys, Love By Design and Holmes On Homes (HGTV), Doc (Global), Ants In Your Pants, Wee 3 and Ask Me (Treehouse), Nanalan (CBC), Weird Years (YTV), Heart of a Poet (Bravo), Stratusphere (Travel), Big and Small (BBC/Treehouse).

Douglas John lives in Toronto and when not performing for children, he plays regularly with Toronto Celtic group Joyce’s Folly, country/blues/jazz combo, The Louisiana Snowblowers, and blues-R n’B band Three-
Chord Johnny.

Stephen Skratt has been scoring for film and television professionally for thirteen years. A self taught musician who started out taking piano lessons from nuns and enjoyed listening to the dulcet sounds of his parents marching band records, Stephen soon graduated to the drum kit and a number of other instruments. After moving to Toronto Stephen was lucky to work with some of the best composers in the city. This proved to be an excellent way to learn a craft that is not so easily taught in school. Working on two seasons of Due South as an assistant to Jack Lenz was a great education in how to score a series. Over the past twelve years Stephen has composed music for a multitude of film and television shows both good and bad, dazzling clients in process.

Orest is a multi instrumentalist who has worked in the music business for over 30 years as a composer, producer, songwriter, studio musician, teacher and programmer. In his years at Lenz Entertainment he has composed music for such TV and film projects as:

The Passion of the Christ (ICON –Mel Gibson)
The Last Door  (Illusions Entertainment)
Cardcaptors Movie  (Nelvana, Kids WB)
Rescue Heroes  (CBS)
Total Recall 2070   (Global TV/Showtime)
Due South   (CBS)
Little Mosque On The Prairie (CBC)
Men With Brooms (Alliance – Atlantis)
The Uncles
H2O  (CBC)
Trojan Horse (CBC)
Designer Guys (HGTV)
Style Department (HGTV)
Miss BG (TVO)
Nanalan (CBC/PBS)
Mr. Meaty (Nickelodeon/CBC)
Puck Hogs
Party Mamas (Slice)
ZOS (Movie Central)
Weird Years (YTV)
2nd City Next Comedy Legend  (CBC)
For the Love of Grace
The Good Witch Part 1 (Hallmark)
The Good Witch Part 2 (Hallmark)
Bridal Fever (Hallmark)
Celine Biopic (CBC)
Ollie The Otter and the Baked Halibut (Trailer (Theatrical Release))
Prom Night In Mississippi (Paul Saltzman)
The Saddle Club (TVO/ABC)
Atomic Betty  (Teletoon)
The Idealist (Beevision)
Holly Stell “Perfect Shades Of Blue" Album

And many more…

Meet Adam Crossley, an acclaimed singer, songwriter and producer. With comparisons to Coldplay, Sting and Ryan Adams, Crossley’s melodic voice & thoughtful lyrics are gaining recognition and anticipation is building for the release of his first solo record. 

Along with writing, producing and performing his own music, Adam has recently teamed up with Asher Lenz, another prolific young composer, to write and produce songs for up-and-coming artist and multi-platinum recording stars. Their song “So She Dances” was recently recorded by Josh Groban and released on his latest record “Awake”, and was featured on The Simpsons, Dancing with the Stars, and Oprah. The duo is now writing for Joshes next record, set for release in 2010.

In addition to songwriting, for the past 5 years Adam has been composing music for film and television with Lenz Entertainment, writing and producing theme songs and scores for TV shows such as Mansions (HGTV), Jimmy 2 shoes (Cartoon network), The Main (food network), and many more. With several big successes under his belt, the world has seen only the beginning of Adam Crossley.

Management:

Michael Roth has seen the music industry from both sides of the desk, as a respected songwriter, a music publisher, and head of A&R for Sony Music Canada for 13 years. His own songs have been recorded by artists Sheena Easton, Toronto, Jennifer Rush, Junkhouse, Hemingway Corner, Crash Vegas, Adam Gregory, Tom Wilson and Edwin. He has produced tracks for the Philosopher Kings, Junkhouse, Hemingway Corner, Crash Vegas, Edwin and the acclaimed Neil Young Tribute album "Borrowed Tunes" which alone raised $250, 000 for disabled children's charities. For 13 years Michael was been the award winning creative force behind Sony Music Canada's rise to become the top domestic label with artists like Lady Peace, Amanda Marshall, Chantel Kreviazuk, Philosopher Kings, Prozzak, Adam Gregory, Edwin, B4-4, Junkhouse, Hemingway Corner, 54-40, Melanie Doane, and Jarvis Church. He also nurtured and developed some of Canada's top producer/songwriters through Sony's creative facilities, some of whom have their own successful production companies, e.g Gerald Eaton's "Track and Field Productions" ( Nelly Furtado, Ricky Martin) , Stephane Moccio ( Celine Dion, INSYNC, Sara Brightman, b4-4), Jay Levine's " Left Hook Productions" ( Prozzak, Fefe Dobson ) Tawgs ( Kazzer, Edwin and Kyprios), and David Martin (Adam Gregory, b4-4, Edwin, Liam Titcomb).

Over his 20 year career in the music business, Roth has greatly raised the profile of our fine Canadian talent within and beyond our borders. His latest venture as President and C.E.O of Big Bold Sun Music also promises to shine brightly with its new roster of young Canadian talent.

Engineers: 

Dan, known as ‘Dan The Man’ by most, or as ‘Flush’ by a certain few, has had the privilege of starting his career at Lenz Entertainment. After graduating with honors from The Harris Institute for the Arts, and spending countless hours learning from Michael Jack, and Shaun Gratto, Dan has quickly become a well-known engineer around the Don Mills and Overlea area. Highlights of his career so far include recording the songs for kid’s series Big & Small, editing and mixing TV series Goldmind, editing and mixing Apollo’s Pad webisodes, and of course working with all the talented musicians, and song writers who do work at Lenz Entertainment.  

Michael Jack is an engineer, Protools editor, mixer and producer and has been in the music biz for 25 years. As well as spending most of this time in one recording studio or another Michael spent 15 years as a guitarist and singer for several bands and folk duos. He owned and operated his own studio (Sessions Recordings) back in the late 80's - early 90's and freelanced at several studios throughout the rest of the decade. Between 1999 and 2007 Michael was senior engineer at the legendary Phase One Studios in Toronto working with scores of world class artists. During this time he contributed to and was awarded 12 gold and platinum albums. In the spring of 2007 Michael joined the Lenz Entertainment team and established a new recording facility centered around the SSL (Solid State Logic) AWS-900+ console.

He has engineered sessions for The Trews, Bono, Nelly Furtado, Hilary Duff, Rush, Big Sugar, Liona Boyd, KardinalOffishal, Ludacris, Leahy, Jann Arden, George Canyon, Sass Jordan, Anne Murray, Jesse Cook, Natalie MacMaster, Michelle Wright, Olivia Newton John, Dala, Simon Wilcox, Billy Ray Cyrus, Engelbert Humperdinck, Amy Sky, Marc Jordan, Holly Stell, Mark Masri, Jim Brickman, Adam Crossley and more. 
TV & film credits; Little Mosque On The Prairie, Canadian Idol, Wildcard, Doc, Canadian Country Music Awards, CBC's The Hour, Mansions, Big Voice, Gold Mind, What's Your News, Atomic Betty, Stratusphere, Party Mamas, Producing Parker, Jimmy Two Shoes, Ninjamaica, "Celine" (docudrama basedon the life of Celine Dion), Men With Brooms Soundtrack, Across The Universe Soundtrack, Passchendaele Soundtrack (Sara Slean), Too Fast - Too Furious Soundtrack.

Recent news:
• The song "Christmas Is" by Jim Brickman/ Mark Masri (recorded and mixed by Michael Jack at Lenz Entertainment)) reached #18 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary charts during the winter of 2008.
• Recorded and mixed the new Dala CD “Everyone Is Someone” (Campus/Universal).

Artist  Album/Song Role
Bono I Am The Walrus (Across the Universe)  Recording, Editing
Nelly Furtado Exclusive songs for itunes & Sprint Recording, Editing, Mix
Rush Feedback  Recording, Editing
Olivia Newton John  Christmas Wish  Recording
The Trews Den Of Thieves Recording, Editing, Mix
The Trews House Of Ill Fame Recording, Editing, Mix
Hilary Duff Play With Fire Recording, Editing
Jann Arden Greatest Hurts  Recording
Anne Murray Country Croonin Recording
George Canyon One Good Friend Recording
Anne Murray &
Cliff Richard
“Up Where We Belong" duet Recording
Billy Ray Cyrus Sloop John B  (Doc) Recording, Mix
Big Sugar Hit & Run Recording, Editing, Mix
Jesse Cook  Free Fall Recording
Amy Sky Phenomenal Woman Recording
Amy Sky With This Kiss: Collection Mix Assist
Michelle Wright Everything And More Recording
Sass Jordan Greatest Hits Recording
Leahy In All Things  Recording
Natalie MacMaster Yours Truly  Recording, Editing
Ryan Malcolm Home Recording, Editing, Mix
Caroline Neron Caroline Neron Recording, Editing
Kardinal ffishal  w/Ludacris    Block Reincarnated(2 Fast, 2 Furious) Recording, Editing
Kardinal Offishal   Belly Dancer,  F Word Theory Recording, Editing
Jim Brickman Love Songs And Lullabies Additional Mix
Dala Everyone Is Someone Recording, Editing, Mix
Men With Brooms Soundtrack CD Recording, Mix
Various Artists "Song For Africa" Recording, Editing, Mix
G.Q. Angel In My Bed   Mix
X-quisite No Regrets  Mix
The New Black  The New Black  Producer, Recording, Mix
Spookey Ruben Bed And Breakfast Mix, Editing
Ronnie Wiseman Mystical Mood Mix
Kirk Elliott Up From The Ground Producer, Recording, Mix
Paul Gross Love And Carnage  Recording, Mix
Simon Wilcox  Mongrel Of Love Recording, Mix
Kevin Breitt
& Sisters Euclid 
Other Folks   Recording
Euphoria Euphoria Recording
Carlos Del Junco Up And At 'Em Recording
Justin Hines Sides Mix
Dawn Langstroth EP Recording, Editing, Mix
Mark Masri Christmas Is   Recording, Editing, Mix

  

After graduating from the University of Western Ontario with a General Arts - Psychology diploma Shaun decided to follow his life-long passion for music by attending Fanshawe College's Music Industry Arts program. It was there that he discovered his love for working in the studio and exploring the creative and technical realms of sound engineering in music and television/film post-production. Upon graduating at the top of his engineering class in 2005, Shaun was asked to assist his instructor Kevin Doyle on an album mix where he first met Jack Lenz. Shortly after the album was completed, Shaun was then asked to come work in the Lenz Entertainment studio where he happily remains and works on many music and television/film post-production projects including:

Recording - vocal demos with Adam Crossley and Asher Lenz, vocal demos with Martha Joy, vocal recordings for Carl Young's debut album, additional recording for Shahid Ali Khan's Qawwali Live album, additional recording for The Band of Outsiders album, Atomic Betty theme song/additional music, Miss BG additional music, dialog for Weird Years (YTV), ADR for Mr. Meaty (Nickelodeon), ADR for Big & Small (BBC & Treehouse), english revoicing for Domo (NHK)

Audio Editing - Designer Guys (HGTV), Style Department (HGTV), Save Us >From Our House (HGTV), The Heat (Food Network), Party Mamas (Slice), No Opportunity Wasted (CBC), Apollo's Pad (Bite TV), Prom Night in Mississippi (Documentary), Puck Hogs (Mocumentary).

Mixing - Shahid Ali Khan's Qawwali Live album, additional mixing for The Band of Outsiders, Atomic Betty theme song/additional music, Miss BG additional music, Party Mamas (Slice), No Opportunity Wasted (CBC), Big & Small (BBC & Treehouse), Ooh & Aah (Disney), Domo (NHK), Apollo's Pad (Bite TV), The Saddle Club (TVO), Prom Night in Mississippi (Documentary), Puck Hogs (Mocumentary).

   


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