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Seven is supposed to be a lucky number, and for some Canadian musicians, 2007 was truly the year of the jackpot. Top spot among Fortune’s darlings belonged to Feist, who scored a double bonanza when Apple Inc. chose not just her single (1234) but her video for a relentless series of TV ads pitching the iPod. World fame and four Grammy nominations ensued. Not bad for a down-to-earth anti-diva from Calgary who, before she refashioned herself as a pop chanteuse, nearly shredded her vocal cords wailing with punk bands.

Fortune also smiled on Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Montreal conductor who snagged two major posts across the Atlantic (principal conductor in Rotterdam, principal guest conductor with the London Philharmonic) even though he had almost no profile in Europe. As of next fall, when our world-renowned singers (including Ben Heppner, Adrianne Pieczonka and Measha Bruggergosman, all of whom had good years) cross the water, they may have a compatriot leading the orchestra.

Nelly Furtado surged back into view in 2007, mainly because she had the luck to pick the right guy to write and produce her album for her. Timbaland, whom Furtado barely acknowledged as she triumphed at last spring’s Juno Awards, refashioned her sound completely, adding her to the string of prominent musicians (including Justin Timberlake, Bjork, Duran Duran and Madonna) who went to the ubiquitous beat doctor for career refreshment this year.

Montreal pop musician Patrick Watson came from behind with his Close to Paradise disc to snag the second annual Polaris Prize for best Canadian album, beating Feist and Arcade Fire among others. Also in Montreal, Kent Nagano lived up to almost all the high expectations that greeted him when he arrived as new music director of l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, though the orchestra has yet to announce any serious recording projects with its American-born conductor, in spite of a $100,000 annual grant from the city to raise the orchestra’s recording profile.