Tamara Podemski is an actor/singer/songwriter born and raised in Toronto. For the past 15 years, she has worked professionally in film, television, stage, and in the recording studio. She is a graduate of the Claude Watson School for the Performing Arts, where she studied theatre, dance and music throughout its 10-year intensive program.

Tamara’s performance career began at age 9, when she found herself in a 24-track recording studio as the lead singer on a children's album. Famed music arranger, Jack Lenz, produced the album, and opened up a new world of singing for Tamara. A further introduction to the Toronto-based vocal chorus INNER CITY GOSPEL CHOIR led to live performances at the United Nations in New York with children's performer Raffia, then to back-up singing sessions with the Nylons, and finally to a live concert performance for Nelson Mandela and Codetta Scott King.

By age 12, a budding singing career was interrupted by a brief, but meaningful television experience on Cob’s WONDERSTRUCK. The program featured an episode exploring the science of sports, and Tamara, with 6 years of gymnastics experience, was an ideal choice for what turned into her first television appearance.

Tamara’s acting career was initiated by a chance meeting with renegade film director, Bruce MacDonald, who offered a small, on-screen role in a music video that he was directing. This was immediately followed with a more substantial, principle role in McDonald's feature film, DANCE ME OUTSIDE.

After finishing her first film, which was the Canadian entry at the 1993 Toronto International Film Festival, Tamara received her first professional dance job at the 1995 ABORIGINAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS in Vancouver. She then returned to acting when she landed the lead role in a German mini-series, BLUE HAWK (BLAUVOGEL). This period piece, set in the late 1800's was one of the highest rated shows in Germany in 1996.

Tamara made the transition from German television to Canadian television when CBC commissioned the production of a pilot series, THE REZ, a weekly serial which was to be adapted from the film, DANCE ME OUTSIDE. In this dramatic-comedy, Tamara brought the character of “Lucy” to life, and shortly after, created another character on a competing network.

In READY OR NOT, an award winning after-school drama, Tamara portrayed, “Carla Solvency,” a 14 year-old high-school girl, and was subsequently nominated for a YTV Youth Achievement Award for her entertaining performances.

While on hiatus, and barely a week after graduating from high school, Tamara played the lead in a short film entitled TRIGGERED at the Canadian Film Centre. She then received a scholarship to participate in the ABORIGINAL DANCE PROJECT at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and returned to film the final season of READY OR NOT. The year closed out with the role of Rox in a dramatic independent feature film titled JOHNNY GREYEYES [accepted as a Canadian entry at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and winner of the In and Out Festival in Toronto 2000].

At age 19, Tamara was involved primarily with theatre, participating in a variety of script and play reading workshops until she was offered the role of Pashik in Drew Hayden Taylor's THE BABY BLUES. The play ran in Toronto, with a special performance at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

After a short break from dancing, Tamara returned to the stage as a dancer for the 1997 ABORIGINAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS in Edmonton. When the CBC renewed THE REZ as a thirteen-week television series, Tamara resumed her role as “Lucy.”

Just before her 20th birthday, Tamara auditioned, along with thousands of other hopefuls, for the Tony Award winning musical RENT. She was cast in the Toronto production and throughout 1997 and 1998 performed 8 shows a week at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. After more than 250 shows, Tamara's biggest dream came to life when the New York producers of RENT offered her a part in the Broadway production. Not more than three months after her arrival, and with hours of understudy experience, Tamara took over the lead role of “Maureen.”

After almost 2 years in RENT, Tamara returned home to Toronto where she wrote, and performed, the theme song for the television series "THE SEVENTH GENERATION," which airs on the Aboriginal People's Television Network. The new millennium found Tamara reacquainting herself with the camera as 'guest actor' in WOMEN IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR 2000 at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

At age 22, Tamara was offered her most dramatic role to date: “Divinia Poowam Fullblood” in Billy Merasty's staged play, GODLY'S DIVINIA. Her stage work continued with De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group's summer production of Daniel David Moses' THE DREAMING BEAUTY. As a guest artist, Tamara also created original music for the play.

In a return to series television, Tamara landed the role of Marcy Wheeler in an episode of Discovery Channel's EXHIBIT "A". A week later, she accepted her third invitation to the Banff Centre for the Arts for the ABORIGINAL SCREENWRITER'S WORKSHOP.

Back in Toronto, Tamara took on a brand new role: Student. During her full-time studies at the University of Toronto, Tamara was selected from singers across North America to front the band SPIRIT NATION. As the lyricist and lead vocalist, Tamara wrote and sang all 10 tracks in her Native language, Ojibwa. After recording her first album, Tamara signed on to four additional SPIRIT NATION albums with Karin Music in Los Angeles. With the distribution support of Razor and Tie (US) and BMG (Canada), SPIRIT NATION was released across North America in October 2001. The album has been featured on CBC Radio’s “THIS MORNING”, CBC Radio’s “Fresh Air”, APTN’S BUFFALO TRACKS, the imagineNATIVE FILM FESTIVAL and the 2002 WORLD INDIGENOUS GAMES in Winnipeg. Tamara also made her debut as a choreographer at the 9th ABORIGINAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS, where she opened the program with a song from SPIRIT NATION. Most recently, SPIRIT NATION was nominated for “Best Group” at the 2002 Aboriginal Music Awards in Toronto.

At 25, Tamara is in her third year at U of T, focusing on Aboriginal Studies and Hebrew Literature. Tamara has just completed her second album, a collection of 12 original Ojibway songs in the traditional hand drum style. Upcoming in February 2003, Tamara will be featured in the new NORTH OF 60 movie, “ANOTHER COUNTRY” on CBC. With the REZ in reruns across Canada, READY OR NOT in reruns all over the world, and her theme song playing every week on television, Tamara anticipates her next big adventure.