TORONTO, CANADA, March 31, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Harris Institute is proud to announce that alumnus Henry ‘CIRKUT’ Walter has won the 2026 ‘Jack Richardson Producer of the Year’ JUNO Award. The ceremony was held at TD Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.
In a full-circle moment, the award is named after the legendary Jack Richardson (1929 – 2011), who is Canada’s most celebrated record producer and was Walter’s ‘Production Applications’ instructor at Harris Institute in 2006. Richardson taught at Harris for 16 years.
Originally from Halifax, Walter moved to Toronto to complete the Audio Production Program. He later relocated to Los Angeles, where he became a producer and writer for some of the biggest names in music, including The Weeknd, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Maroon 5, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Kanye West, and Elton John.
“It is thrilling to see a former student achieving their dreams”, says John Harris, the college’s president. “Our remarkable faculty are proud to have contributed”.
This JUNO comes on the heels of a massive year for Walter, who also took home three GRAMMY Awards, including Producer of the Year for his work on projects by Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and ROSÉ, and The Weeknd. In total, he received seven GRAMMY nominations this year, adding to his 2018 GRAMMY for The Weeknd’s *Starboy* and a 2014 Producer of the Year JUNO. With ten #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, Walter is currently ranked #3 on Billboard’s “Top Producers of the 21st Century.”
For the second year in a row, every graduate from the Arts Management Program landed a job in their field of study, according to the Ministry of Colleges and Universities’ official reports. And for the first time in Harris Institute’s 36-year history, 100% of graduates earned honours (over 80% average from 54 courses). The college has also achieved a 0% Student Loan Default Rate 16 times—an accomplishment almost unheard of for post-secondary schools in Canada and the US.
Harris Institute was named the “best school of its kind” for seven consecutive years in the ‘Media Arts Education Report’. Other schools in the report include Toronto Metropolitan University, Humber College and Metalworks Institute. Harris has also been featured in Billboard’s ‘Top 11 Schools’ and Mix’s ‘Audio Education’s Finest’.
Start your career in the industry with intensive programs, including the 12-month Audio Production Program (APP) and Arts Management Program (AMP), and the 20-month Music Business Professional (MBP) program. Learn directly from award-winning industry leaders in hands-on master classes. New programs start this November, March, and July.
For More Information:
John Harris
Harris Institute
+1 416-367-0178
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