Reeny Smith - one of Casino Nova Scotia Artist in Residence Program Finalists

Congratulations Reeny Smith!

Reeny Smith

Information from Music Nova Scotia's newsletter:


The Casino Nova Scotia Artist in Residence program will provide the selected musician or group with $20,000 in funding to assist with developing their career through recording, marketing, and live performance opportunities.  Music Nova Scotia is working with Casino Nova Scotia to administer the program.

Music lovers and fans will have their chance to vote from June 1 – June 5 during the online voting, which counts towards the selection of the finalist.  Go to www.musicnovascotia.ca to vote. The public is welcome to come to the Showcase on June 12 at Casino Nova Scotia. Free admission. Must be 19+.

Finalists Showcase:
Friday, June 12 at 8pm
Schooner Showroom, Casino Nova Scotia
Free admission must be 19+
#CasinoNSAiR

For more information on Casino Nova Scotia’s Artist in Residence Program go to:
www.casinonovascotia.com/air/ or www.musicnovascotia.ca


Reeny Smith (Hometown: North Preston, Nova Scotia)
Reeny has been singing and playing the piano since the age of five. She credits her inspiration for music from time spent with family and friends at her local church, Saint Thomas Baptist, where she plays piano and is a member of three choirs. Her roots in music stem from an incredible gene pool of family musicians. Both Reeny's father and grandfather, Wallace Smith Sr. and Jr., are former members of one of Canada’s Premier Gospel bands, The Gospel Heirs. Her uncles Carson and Murray Downey of the Carson Downey Band are also testaments of the great music legacy that she has to inspire her. Reeny was selected for the Portia White Award for Excellence in Vocal Performance in 2011, along with a scholarship from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust recognizing her outstanding musical attributes.
Website: http://www.iamreeny.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iamreeny/236723473056697
Twitter: @iamREENY

Scotia Festival of Music features former NSTT scholarship recipients

MAY 25 - JUNE 7

Scotia Festival of Music is an annual two-week chamber music festival held in Halifax, NS 

David Parker - (photo: Symphony NS website)

boasting over fifty public events. The festival, of a wide variety of concerts and recitals crossing the spectrum from Baroque to contemporary music, will begin on Monday, May 25, and continue until Sunday, June 7.

Featuring international talent of the highest caliber, the festival offers concerts, recitals, open rehearsals, masterclasses, coaching sessions, lectures, and more.
You can find more information at http://www.scotiafestival.ns.ca/2015/festival-2015

The following former NSTT scholarship recipients are performing during the festival.

Peter Allen, piano www.peterallenpiano.com/

Mark Djokic, violin http://www.marcdjokic.com/

Denise Djokic, cello http://denisedjokic.com/

Ben Duinker, performer, composer, and choral tenor http://www.architekpercussion.com/

Mark Morton, percussion http://www.architekpercussion.com/

David Parker, horn https://symphonynovascotia.ca/about/who-we-are/our-orchestra/david-parker/

Ruth-Ellen Kroll Jackson one of the choreographers for the KiDanCo dance event

KiDanCo, the resident pre-professional company for emerging dance artists at the Leica Hardy School of Dance, will present their annual spring season of contemporary dance repertoire.

May 16 and May 17 
at 7:30 p.m.

Matineé on May 17 at 2:30 p.m.

at DANSpace-On-Grafton, Halifax.

One Needs A Little Courage To Live by Ruth-Ellen Kroll Jackson is a vehicle for five performers which explores the themes of risk-taking, persistence and courage. Ruth-Ellen earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Her performing career took her to New York where she danced with such companies as The Martha Graham Dance Ensemble and the Parsons Dance Company. She continues to work in the region as a choreographer, performer and instructor.
More about Ruth-Ellen can be found here.

For tickets please go to http://leicahardyschoolofdance.com/kidanco/performance-season/

Alice MacLean, visual artist in the VANS Corridor Gallery May 11-28, 2015

Alice MacLean

Alice MacLean at www.alicemaclean.com

semblance of a connection

May 11-28, 2015

The Corridor Gallery
1113 Marginal Road, Halifax

Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm.

Recently, Alice returned from a year abroad in Scotland where she took part in an Artist in Residence, and exhibition opportunities in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Since returning to Nova Scotia, she has renovated a studio space in Dartmouth. She has upcoming opportunities planned in Halifax, teaches from her studio and is participating in the Halifax Art Battle finals in June.
Find more about Alice at http://www.alicemaclean.com/

Located inside the Visual Arts Nova Scotia (VANS) office at the Halifax Seaport, since 2000, the Corridor Gallery is complimented by a historical legacy of Nova Scotia culture, simple yet modern architectural elements and an array of current cultural activity in the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia office. The Corridor Gallery is located at 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia and is open Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm.

Vineet Vyas nominated as Finalist for Prestigious Toronto Arts Foundation Award 2015

Muriel Sherrin Award For International Achievement 
– A $10,000 cash prize.

Presented biennially to an artist or creator who has made a contribution to the cultural life of Toronto through outstanding achievement. The recipient will also have participated in international initiatives, including touring, studying abroad and participating in artist exchanges. The award rotates from music to dance in alternating prize years. This year, the award will be made in the field of music. 

David Buchbinder - Trumpeter, composer and cultural inventor.
Paul Read - Pianist/composer and educator
Vineet Vyas - Classical tabla musician

Vineet Vyas orginaly from Truro, NS is a disciple of the late legendary tabla maestro Pandit Kishan Maharaj, and has performed around the world with some of the most eminent Indian classical music artists such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pts. Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Ustad Shahid Parvez, Dr. L. Subramaniam, and Ustad Aashish Khan. 

In 2009, Vineet established the PKM Jayanti Festival in Toronto, a bi-annual festival honouring the legacy of his late Guru. His CD Taalworks was released through Times Music in India in 2007, and in 2011, his CD The King of Dhamaar was nominated for an East Coast Music Award for Best World Recording.

http://www.torontoartsfoundation.org/media/2015-finalists

'How Often Do I Dream…' directed by Alexis Milligan (former NSTT scholarship recipient)

How Often Do I Dream…

Transitus Theatre
Written & Performed by: Katie Dorian
Directed by Alexis Milligan
May 7 – May 9
7:45pm – 50mins
Bus Stop Theatre

What happens when our memory fails us?

Who do we become when our histories disappear?

How Often Do I Dream… is a multi sensory performance experience which explores how memory functions, how it collapses, and what we become when our memory begins to fade.

Story-telling guide, Katie Dorian, takes you into her Opi’s life and memories, his developing dementia, her own memory failures and the pieces of beauty found among the rubble of a broken mind.

Written and performed by Katie Dorian, co-created and directed by Alexis Milligan, stage managed by Gina Thornhill, original composition by Matthew Amyotte.

Admission: $10 alone or $15 including The Work of the Dancer

Information taken from http://mayworkshalifax.ca/

Presenting Partner:

NSGEU

May Works Halifax: The Work of the Dancer with former scholarship recipients Jacinte Armstrong, Rhonda Baker, Ruth-Ellen Kroll Jackson, and Sarah Rozee

The Work of the Dancer

Presented by: SiNS (Sometimes in Nova Scotia) Dance
Audio production: Veronica Simmonds
Choreography: Jacinte Armstrong
Sound composition: Lindsay Dobbin
May 7 – May 9, 7:00pm, 25 Minutes
Bus Stop Theatre

Photo credit: Charles Bourne

The dance profession places many physical, mental and emotional demands on its workers, but as with so many artistic endeavours these off-stage efforts are not always exposed or fully understood. The work of the dancer is an audio installation and performance piece that will share dancers’ perspectives on their labour.

With performances by: 

Jacinte Armstrong, Rhonda Baker, Susanne Chui, Ruth-Ellen Kroll Jackson, Sarah Rozee, Elise Vanderborght, and Liliona Quarmyne.

Information taken from http://mayworkshalifax.ca/

This work is made possible through the support of Arts Nova Scotia.