Adrian Luces
Creative Leader • Communication Strategist • Artist • Producer • Connector
Adrian Luces is a Toronto-based creative leader, executive communication strategist, multidisciplinary artist and cultural advocate whose work bridges leadership, storytelling, performance, philanthropy and human connection. Throughout his career, one idea has remained constant: extraordinary things happen when the right people are brought together around a meaningful purpose.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago and raised in Toronto from the age of nine, Adrian’s creative life began with music. A graduate of St. Michael’s Choir School, he went on to study jazz and contemporary voice at Berklee College of Music and vocal performance at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
That foundation in music and performance ultimately became the starting point for a much broader career exploring the power of voice, presence, creativity and human connection.
The Power of Voice
As founder of Vocal Impression, Adrian works with executives, professionals and public figures to help them communicate with greater confidence, authenticity, authority and impact.
His approach goes far beyond public speaking. Drawing upon decades of experience as a singer, performer, producer and communicator, Adrian helps people understand how the voice, its pitch, pace, projection, energy and emotional intention, shapes how others perceive us and whether our ideas truly connect.
His signature 9P’s of Performance framework brings together the disciplines of performance and leadership communication, helping people become more compelling and authentic communicators in boardrooms, presentations, interviews, media appearances and everyday professional life. He has worked with individuals and organizations across business, healthcare, education, media and the arts and has served as Director of Vocal Impression with leadership development firm Forrest & Company.
The Artist
Creativity has always been central to Adrian’s life. A singer and songwriter, he has performed and recorded music throughout his career while also working across film, theatre and live entertainment. He is also the creator of Scraperscapes, a distinctive visual art collection transforming architecture, skylines, landscapes and iconic places into striking contemporary imagery produced on premium metal and acrylic.
His work has been exhibited and commissioned in Canada and the United States, including work created for the National Club of Toronto and exhibitions of his SkiScapes collection in Aspen, Colorado. For Adrian, whether the medium is a voice, a song, a photograph or an architectural image, the objective is much the same: to make people stop, look, listen—and feel something.
Beyond Labels
Another thread running through Adrian’s creative work is his longstanding interest in identity, belonging and the labels human beings place upon one another. He believes that while labels can help us describe ourselves and understand our experiences, they can also become barriers, encouraging us to see difference before we see the person.
That idea is at the heart of Wake Up, Adrian’s yet-to-be-released short film and spoken-word poem exploring division, identity and our tendency to define one another by race, nationality, religion, politics and other labels. Rather than denying the differences that make each person unique, Wake Up asks a more fundamental question: what might change if we learned to see the human being before the label?
It is a theme that reaches beyond a single film. Adrian’s belief in our shared humanity informs much of his creative and community work and reflects a conviction he has carried throughout his life: Before all the things that describe us, we are human.
The Connector
Perhaps the thread that best defines Adrian’s career is his ability to bring people together. Over several decades, he has conceived, produced and helped lead initiatives that have united artists, business leaders, philanthropists and communities around important causes.
In 2016, after watching the devastating Fort McMurray wildfires unfold, Adrian conceived #BackFortMac, believing Toronto’s artistic community should come together in support of fellow Canadians. Within four weeks, an extraordinary coalition of volunteers, artists and community leaders assembled a benefit concert at Roy Thomson Hall featuring some of Canada’s leading performers. The event raised approximately $200,000 for the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal. His other creative and philanthropic initiatives have included A Gift of Music, Beyond Boundless, Parasport Ontario’s Evening for Inclusion concerts and numerous projects supporting the SickKids Foundation Herbie Fund.
Together with Patti Jannetta, Adrian co-founded Music Makes Miracles, reflecting their shared belief that music and creativity can become powerful catalysts for generosity and social change. Their work also included Healing Hands, Changing Lives, written with Danny Turco and recorded with a collective of Canadian performers in support of the Herbie Fund. For his contributions, Adrian has been recognized as one of the SickKids Herbie Fund’s distinguished Luminaires.
Supporting Canada’s Creative Community
Today, much of Adrian’s leadership is focused on ensuring that the people who helped build Canada’s arts and entertainment community remain connected, valued and celebrated as they grow older. As Executive Director of Supporting Cast Canada, formerly PAL Canada Foundation, Adrian leads a national charitable organization dedicated to alleviating isolation among senior and disadvantaged members of Canada’s professional arts community.
Under his leadership, the organization is expanding its national reach while developing new approaches to connection, intergenerational engagement, storytelling and recognition. Among those initiatives is The Artwell, a Toronto gathering and exhibition space where artists can create, exhibit, perform, share stories and connect across generations.
Adrian is also helping develop Canada Stories, an initiative dedicated to preserving and celebrating the extraordinary stories, experiences and creative legacies of the people who have helped shape Canada’s cultural identity. For Adrian, this work represents something larger than programming.
It is about belonging, purpose and ensuring that creative people continue to know that they matter.
What’s Next
Adrian has never been particularly interested in defining himself by a single profession. Singer. Artist. Producer. Communication strategist. Writer. Cultural advocate. Non-profit leader.
They are different expressions of the same instinct: to create, communicate and connect. At a time when technology is transforming how people work and artificial intelligence is changing how we communicate, Adrian believes something fundamentally human is becoming even more valuable, the ability to connect authentically with another person. That belief continues to shape his work today.
Through Vocal Impression, Scraperscapes, Supporting Cast Canada, The Artwell, Canada Stories and the creative projects still ahead, Adrian continues exploring what has fascinated him throughout his life: the extraordinary things that can happen when creativity, communication and human connection come together.