India Yeshe Gailey in Vaso String Quartet Debut Concert in Toronto

India Yeshe Gailey and her cello join violinists Hua-Chu Huang, Aysel Taghi-Zada, and violist Peter Ayuso for their debut concert as Vaso String Quartet.

Formed in May 2018 at the Scotia Festival of Music, this ensemble brings together four dedicated musicians with a passion for contemporary repertoire. The concert will include music by Glass, Gershwin, Bosmans, Shaw, and Piazzolla.

India is working on a master’s degree in cello performance at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal. She’s involved with several projects and creative ensembles, including New Hermitage, a Halifax-based environmental chamber jazz ensemble; Bonsai, a cello-percussion duo with Ken Shorley; and Ear Camera, an avant-garde composer collective in Montréal.

India also studied visual art at NSCAD University, which has significantly informed her work as a composer. In 2017 she was awarded the Talent Trust Yue Lih and Marion Kuo Award for exceptional commitment and potential in music as an instrumentalist.

Vaso String Quartet concert details:
August 24, 2018
Creeds Coffee Bar
390 Dupont Street, Toronto

Doors open at 7:00 p.m.
Performance at 7:30 p.m. 

Tickets at the door (cash only)
$20 regular / $10 students

Aidan Zann-Roland and Chantal Peng at Awards for Creative Excellence

Aidan Zann-Roland and Chantal Peng appeared at the celebration of the Minister's Awards for Creative Excellence in the Arts in Halifax on June 13.

Aidan Zann-Roland was one of the finalists for the Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music (CASEM). Charlie A'Court was on hand (pictured with Aidan above, left) for the celebration.

Aidan is also one of the Talent Trust’s newest scholarship recipients. He started playing bass guitar in the Truro Junior High jazz band, then in the Cobequid Education Centre (CEC) band, and in the Nova Scotia Honours jazz program. 

While in Grade 10 he was a member of the jazz/funk band Shelter, which disbanded when the other members went on to university. In 2016 and at the age of 16, Aidan became the youngest member of the band Carry the Lost.

Chantal Peng (above, right) was on hand to accompany two of the Minister’s Awards for Creative Excellence recipients.

She’s studied with Professor John Hansen at Acadia University, and at Orford Musique in Quebec. She was the recipient of the Talent Trust Titje Zonneveld award in 2017.

Chantal placed first in the National Canadian Music Competition, and at the Great Composers’ International Piano Concerto Competition in 2016. She played at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2015. 

If you’re in the Wolfville area on June 23, you can see Chantal perform at their farmer’s market from 9:30 am - 12:30 p.m.

In partnership with the arts community, the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development established the Minister's Awards for Creative Excellence in the Arts to recognize grade 12 students who excel in visual arts, performing arts, digital multimedia and music.

Three $1000 scholarships are granted according to overall merit. The Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music includes a $500 award and a mentorship with musical artist Charlie A’Court. In addition, up to 15 students are selected as finalists and each receive $100.

All of us at the Talent Trust would like to congratulate the finalists and wish them all the best as they continue their artistic studies.

Maya Read Performs at the Open Stage in Halifax and Night Kitchen in Wolfville

Maya Read will be performing at Open Stage on May 28 at the Carleton Music Bar & Grill in Halifax, and at Night Kitchen in Wolfville on June 2.

Maya won the Lieutenant Governor’s award in 2017 for musical theatre. She’s currently pursuing an Honours in Musical Theatre Performance at Sheridan College in Ontario.

She participated in a Creative Dance Project during her academic year, where students develop their own original movement. The work is further explored with classmates and put into a choreographed dance. Each student organized their own rehearsals, participated in the CDPs of their classmates, and played the role of choreographer.

Click here to see a video of her Creative Dance Project piece as well as a performance at Open Stage when Maya was in Halifax during Reading Week.

For more information on Maya’s May 28 appearance, visit the Open Stage Facebook page. 

Details on Wolfville’s Night Kitchen are available on their Facebook page.

Talent Trust awards over $33,000 to the 2017 Special Award Recipients at today's Special Awards Ceremony

The Talent Trust (NSTT) recognized the 2017 Scholarship and Special Award recipients at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at Halifax Central Library in a ceremony attended by His Honour The Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc, ONS, QC Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Created to support the career of contralto Portia White 73 years ago, the Talent Trust has continued to support talented Nova Scotian artists as they pursue their studies toward establishing professional careers in the arts. One such gifted artist is Halifax' musical theatre performer Maya Read, who received the $1,500 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Artistic Achievement, the NSTT’s highest honour for a student in any discipline. Read studies musical theatre at Sheridan College in Oakville, ON.  Presented for the first time in 2013, the two 2011 Canada Games Young Artist of Excellence Awards, valued at $10,000 each, will be awarded to any recipient, regardless of age, from any artistic discipline, who best exemplifies the qualities embraced by the Talent Trust, that of the utmost commitment, promise, exceptional technique, talent and the highest achievement of excellence, someone who demonstrates the passion and drive to become a professional Nova Scotia artist in their field of discipline. These two awards will be awarded every December until 2022 and are the legacy of the 2011 Canada Games Young Artists of Excellence Program. In 2017, the two $10,000 awards were received by Halifax film producer Gharrett Paon and type designer Lee Yuen-Rapati from Dartmouth.  Gharrett Paon (Halifax) is currently studying film production at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto, ON.

Type designer Lee Yuen-Rapati(Dartmouth), is studying type design at the University of Reading in Reading, England. The other Special Award recipients, each of whom demonstrates exceptional potential to become professional artists, are: Scenographer Jodie Fox (Musquodoboit Harbour) is the recipient of the $1,500 RBC Emerging Artist Award for applied craft/design theatre. Fox studies scenography (stage design) at the Hochschule Hanover in Hanover, Germany. (Award supported by RBC Emerging Artist Program.) New Award - Given for the fist time in 2017: Cello player India Gailey (Wolfville) is the recipient of the $1000 Yue Lih and Marion Kuo Award for exceptional commitment and potential in music as an instrumentalist. Gailey is currently studying at McGill University in Montreal, QC. (Award supported by Marion Kuo and Earl Wadden.) Visual artist Curtis Botham (Bedford) is the recipient of the $1,000 Charlotte Wilson-Hammond/Visual Arts Nova Scotia Award. Botham graduated with a BFA from NSCAD. He is currently attending the NSCAD University Residency Program in New Glasgow. (Award supported by Charlotte Wilson-Hammond and Visual Arts Nova Scotia.) Opera singer Benjamin Shaw (Halifax) is the recipient of the $1,000 Portia White Awardfor voice. He studies at the University of Toronto, ON. (Award supported by the Music-in-Medicine and Humanities-HEALS Program, Dalhousie University.) Ballet dancer Maggie Oates-Johnson (Dartmouth) is the recipient of the$1,500 Robert George Jackson Award for dance. Maggie studied ballet at Canada's National Ballet School in Toronto this past summer. (Award supported by the Jackson family.) Rebecca Wolfe (Dartmouth) is the recipient of the $500 Theatre Nova Scotia Award for theatre. Wolfe is studying theatre performance at the Humber College in Toronto, ON. (Award supported by Theatre Nova Scotia.) Pianist Chantal Peng (Wolfville) is the recipient of the $1,000 Tietje Zonneveld Award and is studying privately with John Hansen in Wolfville. (Award supported by Tietje Zonneveld.) Choral conductor Thomas Burton (Wolfville) is the recipient of the $750 Kenneth Elloway Award for classical performance. He is studying choral conducting at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA. (Award supported by the Elloway family.) Ballet dancer Carrigan MacDonald (Hammonds Plains) is the recipient of the $1000 Janice Merritt Flemming Award and is currently studying at L'Ecole Superieure de Ballet du Québec in Montreal, QC. (Award supported by the Flemming family.) Euphonium player Ross Macintosh (Truro) is the recipient of the $1,000 Raymond Simpson Award for music and is studying at University of Toronto in Toronto, ON. (Award supported by the Simpson family.) Film Producer Gharrett Paon (Halifax) is the recipient of the $1,000 Shelagh Mackenziehe  Award and is currently studying film production at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto, ON. In addition to the Special Awards announced today, the Nova Scotia Talent Trust gave out scholarships to 48 recipients earlier this year. You can find a list of the 2017 Nova Scotia Talent Trust scholarship recipients below. List of the 2017 NSTT Scholarship and Nova Scotia Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship Recipients Dance - Ballet               Julia Barkhouse, Dartmouth Kieron Harper, Halifax Claire Campbell, Head of St. Margaret's Bay Carrigan MacDonald, Hammonds Plains Olivia MacLean, Dartmouth Ellery Jackson, Dartmouth, NS Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship Katherine McDonald, Halifax Maggie Oates-Johnson, Dartmouth, NS Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship Mollie Oates-Johnson, Dartmouth Niamh Perrins, Wolfville - Modern/Contemporary Lucie Schmidt, Lakeview Stan Tonin, Windsor Junction Music - Keyboard - Piano Vlad Chiriac, Bedford Devin Huang, Bedford Lala Lee, Halifax Chantal Peng, Wolfville Dakota Scott-Digout, Barrington Andrew Son, Halifax Alex (Zixuan) Yang, Bedford - Strings - Cello India Gailey, Wolfville - Strings - Violin Lilith Richter-Stephenson, Dartmouth Heemin Choi, Bedford - Strings - Guitar Matthew Fraser, Inverness - Conducting Thomas Burton, Wolfville - Voice - Opera Nickolas Higgs, New Glasgow Breanna Miller, Halifax Morgan Reid, Sydney Benjamin Shaw, Vancouver,  NS Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship - Brass - French Horn Mimisu Lee, Halifax - Brass - Euphonium Ross Macintosh, Truro - Composition Adam Clarke, Antwerpen - Woodwind - Oboe Julia Millett, Lunenburg Film  - Production Gharrett Paon, Halifax Theatre  - Acting Rebecca Wolfe, Dartmouth - Music Theatre Ria Kapur, Bedford Emily Robertson, Oakville Maya Read, Dartmouth, NS Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship - Directing Luciana Silvestre Fernandes, Halifax Visual/Fine Arts  - Interdisciplinary Gabriel Soligo, Halifax, NS Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship - Design/Applied Craft Jodie Fox, Mosquadoboit Harbour Isaac Fresia, Halifax Andrew Gilmour, Halifax Lee Yuen-Rapati, Dartmouth - Painting Drawing Nat Chantel, Dartmouth Curtis Botham, Bedford Caterina Slamovits, Halifax - Printmaking Emma van Zeumeren, Dartmouth Literary Arts - Fiction Conor Martin, Dartmouth