The awards honour Domenic Troiano (1947 – 2005) who is credited by many as the catalyst of the 'Toronto Sound' in the 1960's. He played a principle role in Mandala, The Guess Who, Bush and The James Gang. Troiano scored multiple movie and television themes and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1966.

The awards in 2015 go to: Don Alder (multi-genre category), Steve Cowan (Newfoundland, classical guitar), and Sam Dickinson (Ontario, jazz guitar).