Justin Hines at Mesa Arts Center, Nesbitt/Elliott Playhouse

There’s a moment in every artist’s life when he knows that music is not only his path, but his destiny. Even though Justin Hines grew up singing in church at his grandmother’s behest, his realization came at the most unlikely of places— at a Toronto Raptors’ basketball game in his hometown 15 years ago.



A then-14-year old Hines won a vocal competition to sing the National Anthem— both the Canadian and American— at the game and his world opened up before him. “In that moment, it all seemed possible,” he recalls. “The performance eliminated any stage fright.” Thrown in the deep end, Hines, who has performed professionally ever since, realized he could not only survive, but thrive.



But then again, Hines has thrived all his life against odds that would daunt someone with a less indomitable spirit. Hines has Larsen Syndrome, a joint dislocation condition that confines him to a wheelchair. “The reality is I don’t really look at my situation as that big a deal,” he says. “We all have our things that challenge us, just some people’s are a little more visible in the forefront. Mine is very apparent, whereas others wear it on the inside.”