Support our Blue Nose Marathon TALENT TRUST TEAM

Our Talent Trust Team is in the final stages of preparing for their Blue Nose Marathon runs on November 6 and 7, 2021. 

Would you please support their efforts by sponsoring their runs? 

Our Team members include former Talent Trust scholarship recipients Breagh Isabel MacKinnon, Carolle Fernando, Erin Sparks, Andrew Son, and Edward Enman. Edward will run the full marathon on Sunday! WOW!!!

We thank our Talent Trust friends Jon Hines, Jeff Janes, Kelly Wadden, NSTT Vice-Chair Victoria Hines, NSTT Treasurer Natalie Wells, and our Executive Director Jacqueline Steudler for running as well. 

Okay,complete transparency here. Jacqueline will walk the 5 km. 😍

You can find the entire team at the following link or individual links further down on this page. Just scroll down to see all of our runners -> click on their image and support their efforts today. 

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/team/316112

100% of your support will go towards the Talent Trust's scholarship fund. You will receive a donation receipt starting at $5. 

Please feel free to share this information with your friends. 🥰

Direct Links to Talent Trust Team Member’s Fundraising pages

Natalie Wells, NSTT Treasurer

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12203665

Breagh MacKinnon, former Talent Trust scholarship recipient and NSTT Secretary

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12562498

Carolle Fernando, former Talent Trust scholarship recipient

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12674231

Victoria Hines, NSTT Vice Chair

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12650184

Erin Sparks, former Talent Trust scholarship recipient and former NSTT Board Chair

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12625030

Andrew Son, former Talent Trust scholarship recipient

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12171585

Edward Enman, former Talent Trust scholarship recipient

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/11921807

Kelly Wadden

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/11887439

Jeff Janes
https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12905286

Jon Hines

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/12961176

Jacqueline Steudler, Talent Trust Executive Director

https://raceroster.com/events/2021/47356/scotiabank-blue-nose-marathon/pledge/participant/11906662

PS: Want to hear more about the Talent Trust? Please sign up for our newsletter.

Welcome to the Board Jonathan Wallace Smith Jr.

Our board members play a significant role in executing our vision to support the development of talented Nova Scotians to pursue a professional career in the arts. They dedicate countless hours and support the mission of the Talent Trust with their funds. We're very proud to say that we have a 100% giving Board.

Today, we bid farewell to some of them. We extend our most sincere thanks to these members for their perseverance and the critical level of insight into issues that guide the Talent Trust forward. We will never forget your work. Thank you!

At our Annual General Meeting end of May, we said goodbye to our Treasurer Stephen Bordl. Thank you, Stephen, for two years of fiscal leadership, the execution of our 75th anniversary in 2019 and for steering us through a pandemic. We're glad to know that we'll still be in touch.

Thank you to Natalie Wells for taking on the role of Treasurer. Natalie joined us last year, and we're grateful to her for stepping into her new position. 

We also said farewell to Kay Stanfield. Kay first helped us for two years as a Scholarship Selection Committee member and joined the Board five years ago. She spent many hours fundraising in various ways, opening doors and advocating for our up-and-coming Nova Scotia artists. Thank you, Kay! 

Welcome to our new board member.

We are pleased to announce the newest member of our team, Jonathan Wallace Smith Jr. Wallace, the father of former scholarship recipient Reeny Smith, is eager to help and support our Nova Scotia artists. He knows well what it takes to succeed as an artist. We look forward to incorporating his knowledge and insight and are thankful for his support.

"As the Father of a past recipient of the NSTT scholarship fund, it gives me great delight to become a member of its board. I’m extremely excited to contribute in any way to help cultivate its ongoing commitment to ensure that exceptional talent is not only recognized but supported and that its rich, established history continues to assist our thriving Nova Scotian talent," states Wallace.

Thank you to our board members for their dedication, knowledge, and time.
You can find the full roster of our NSTT board on our website. 

Want to hear more about the Talent Trust? Please sign up for our newsletter.

Want to support the next generation of Nova Scotian artists? Donate today! (smile)

Andre Haines: 30 years of contribution to the arts in NS

Photo credit: Chris Green

Congratulations to visual artist and former Talent Trust scholarship recipient Andre Haines for being recognized by the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for over '30 years of contributing to the arts sector in Nova Scotia and helping to teach the next generation of artists and musicians'. What a wonderful achievement! 

About Andre:

In 1985, after attending Mount Allison U, and Acadia U as a student of music (oboe), theatre and fine arts, I received a NSTT scholarship to follow my artistic passions further. I had become more interested in performing in musicals and needed money to go to AMDA in NYC to study with the best in the business. My musical theatre teacher was the first female conductor on Broadway. I spent many years performing, directing and composing for stage, film and television. I taught at Acadia U for 4 years, and the MCPA as well as running my own vocal studio.As time progressed I developed more passion for visual arts and that grew into a parallel career. Now I am a full time painter and continue my artistic journey. NSTT gave me the opportunity to work with brilliant people and set me on a course for a life time working prolifically in the arts.

Want to hear more about the Talent Trust? Please sign up for our newsletter.

Want to support the next generation of Nova Scotian artists? Donate today! (smile)

Veronique MacKenzie Wins the 2019 Merritt Award for Outstanding Choreography.

Veronique MacKenzie receives recognition for her choreography in Kamp, presented by Eastern Front Theatre & Neptune Theatre. Kamp, a two-act musical that tells the story of a group of homosexual men, interred in a Nazi concentration camp took home several Merritt awards. 

The award adds to the growing list of her accomplishments. Veronique is a recipient of Nova Scotia’s prestigious Established Artist Awards, and two-time recipient of Live Art’s Diane Moore Scholarship for choreography. 

Véronique has presented her work across the country in a variety of festivals and productions including Toronto’s Junction Festival, The Edmonton Fringe Festival, Labrador Arts Festival and Festival Antigonish. Her status as an independent dancer has allowed her to dance for a variety of contemporary dance productions as well as develop a successful choreographic and solo performance career. Véronique most recently completed choreography for POP TV's "Let's Get Physical" (L.A.) and has worked on CBC's Mr. D, Bo on the Go, and Street Cents.

Véronique has served on faculty at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD University), Neptune Theatre School, The Fountain School of Performing Arts (Dalhousie University) and Halifax Dance. She’s been a board member of Dance Nova Scotia and Keep Good (Theatre) Company. She is the Atlantic rep for the Dancer Transition Resource Centre out of Toronto.

Her eclectic background includes training in modern dance (York University and The School of the Toronto Dance Theatre), jazz and ballet (The National Ballet School/R.A.D./Checcetti/Vagonova), visual art (NSCAD), clown and Fool-work (Laban Int’l School), creative movement (Virginia Tanner School/USA) and theatre (University of NB and Theatre NB) from which she has developed a unique performance style.

Biographical information has been summarized, and can be found in full on her website, www.veroniquemackenzie.com 

Craig Gallery shows Curtis Botham’s Effluents Exhibition April 3 – 28 2019

Curtis Botham, 2018 winner of the 2011 Canada Games Young Artist of Excellence and 2017 winner of the Charlotte Wilson-Hammond/VANS Award, returns from his one-year artist residency program in New Glasgow, to share Effluents, a body of large-scale charcoal artworks dealing the coal, lumber and steel industries in Pictou County. 

Opening Reception:

Wednesday April 3 2019 5-7pm

Artist talk on Sat April 6 2019 2pm 

Drawings on display until April 28

Craig Gallery

2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth 


The work alludes to the history of these industries on the province, as well as the effects on surrounding communities. The work stands as both a critical examination and a memorial to what was once considered the industrial heart of the Maritimes.

Read press coverage on Curtis in the New Glasgow News.

Reeny Smith gets high recognition in CBC’s Searchlight Competition.

Last week Reeny Smith’s song, Good Girl Swag, ranked in the top 10 out of thousands of deserving submissions. 

Through a combination of public voting and jury selection, the annual competition awards Juno-ready Canadian musicians prizes courtesy of the Juno Awards, the National Music Centre and CBC Music.

By getting to the final round, Reeny Smith accrued national attention to her music and in particular, her song writing.

As Smith says on her website, the thing she’s the proudest of, is developing her craft as a songwriter; and being recognized for all of the hard work she’s put into the depth and realism of her work.

“My biggest achievement thus far has been recognized internationally for my song writing work. Song writing was never something I thought I was good at, so to have reached this level of validation means a great deal to me.”

Since winning the Talent Trust Portia White Award in 2010, Smith has gone on to receive a series of additional awards including the Music Nova Scotia’s African Canadian Artist of the Year award in 2016, 2017 and 2018 as well as Best RnB Artist award in The Coast’s Best of Halifax awards in 2017 and 2018.

Watch the Good Girl Swag official music video. 

Cindy Thong returns to Canada to Lecture on Feb 28 and Perform March 10 and 17 2019.

2018 Tietje Zonneveld Award winner, Cindy Thong, has mostly been away studying at La Haute École de Musique de Genève in Switzerland. Luckily, while she visits Canada, she wants to share some of her recent work. 

First listen to Cindy’s lecture about the neuropsychology of learning. Hear from her doctoral research at l'Université de Montréal about its applications in musical practice and performance.

Thursday, February 28
11:30 am in Denton Hall
Acadia University

Then enjoy Cindy Thong’s piano recital in the Music at Grace Series with a program that includes works by Haydn, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Prokofiev.

Sunday, March 10th at 3 pm 
Grace United Church
70 King Street, Dartmouth

If you happen to be near Montreal, join her for a performance at the Orford Festival.

Sunday, March 17th
Orford Arts Centre

As described in her press release, Cindy Thong received 1st prize at the NSRMTA Competition, the Halifax Kiwanis Festival Rose Bowl, the FMFNS Provincial Music Festival and the NSYO Concerto Competition.

She has also been prizewinner and finalist in the FCMF National Music Festival, the CFMTA National Piano Competition, the Concours Hélène-Roberge, the Concours Prix d’Europe and the Canadian Music Competition. Additionally, she was also the recipient of the 2009 Debut Atlantic Award for Musical Excellence.

In 2013, Cindy had the pleasure of performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 under the direction of Dinuk Wijeratne. Most recently, she has also performed as soloist with the Nova Sinfonia and offered recitals as part of the l’Oasis Musicale, Merry Musical, Music for an Afternoon and Cecilia Concert Series.

Currently a doctoral candidate at l’Université de Montréal under the direction of Jimmy Brière, Cindy is simultaneously pursuing a second Master’s degree at La Haute École de Musique de Genève where she studies with Dominique Weber.

Gwyneth Christoffel shows her short film 'Torture by Sound' at FIN Atlantic International Film Festival - September 17, 2017

Photo: FIN website

Gwyneth Christoffel's short film Torture of Sound will be shown on

Sunday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m.

 

Reel East Coast Shorts Gala

at Park Lane Cinemas, Halifax

From the FIN website:

For people with misophonia, everyday sounds can leave them in immense pain. Torture By Sound explores the emotional and psychological impact this condition has on the lives of its victims..

Tickets can be purchased at:

http://www.finfestival.ca/event/7ef84f83025171d2005fa3aed80b4d28

Gwyneth Christoffel won the 2013 NSTT Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia Award and the 2013 Shelagh Mackenzie Award. 

Call for Entries to the 75th Anniversary Talent Trust Exhibition - Deadline Sept 22, 2017

We are celebrating our 75th Anniversary in 2019!

Call for Entries to the 75th Anniversary Talent Trust Exhibition

This exhibition is open to practicing visual artists who have received scholarships from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust. Artists are invited to propose works completed in the past 15 years, including works held in Nova Scotian public collections.

Works will be selected by curators from the participating galleries. Artists’ exhibition fees and art transportation will be paid. An exhibition catalogue is planned.

Exhibition venues:

• MSVU Art Gallery, Halifax, May - July 2019
• Cape Breton University Art Gallery, Sydney, in the fall 2019
• Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Yarmouth, November 2019 - October 2020

We are very thankful that Ingrid Jenkner, curator of the MSVU Art Gallery has agreed to help us with all the details for a successful exhibition. Thank you Ingrid!!!

Application Deadline: 22 September 2017

You can find and download a fill-able application form with all the details at nstalenttrust.ns.ca/75th-Anniversary

All questions and inquires about the 75th Anniversary Exhibition should be sent directly to Ingrid Jenkner at Ingrid.jenkner(at)msvu.ca.

The Visual Arts Exhibition will be the venues for readings, film screenings, artist talks, and music and dance performances by Talent Trust scholarship recipients. A separate call will go out early in 2018.

Further questions about the 75th anniversary can be sent to 75anniversary(at)nstalenttrust.ns.ca

NSTT awards over $33,000 to 2014 Special Awards Recipients

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 16 December 2014 NOVA SCOTIA TALENT TRUST AWARDS OVER $33,000 T0 2014 SPECIAL AWARD RECIPIENTS AT TODAY’S SPECIAL AWARDS CEREMONY HALIFAX, NS - The Nova Scotia Talent Trust (NSTT) recognized the 2014 Scholarship and Special Award recipients at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 16th at Alderney Landing Theatre in a ceremony attended by Their Honours Brigadier-General the Honourable J.J. Grant, CMM, ONS, CD (Ret’d), Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and Mrs. Joan Grant. Created to support the career of contralto Portia White 70 years ago, the NSTT has continued to support emerging Nova Scotian artists as they pursue their studies toward establishing professional careers in the arts. One such gifted artist is Bedford violinist Heemin Choi, who will receive the $1,500 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Artistic Achievement, the NSTT’s highest honour for a student in any discipline.  Choi is currently finishing his final year at Dalhousie University where he is studying for his Bachelor of Music degree. Presented for the first time in 2013, the 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 Nova Scotia 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. The two $10,000 awards in 2014 will be received by Canningchoreographer and dancer Aliah Schwartz and composerLucas Oickle from Lower Branch. Aliah Schwartz (Canning) is currently in her first year studying dance and choreography at Concordia University in Montreal. Lucas Oickle (Lower Branch) spent part of the summer in West Java, Indonesia studying gamelan music with musician Ade Suparman before returning to UBC to study for his Masters of Music and Composition. The other Special Award recipients, each of whom demonstrates exceptional potential to become professional artists, are listed below: Visual artist Matthis Grunsky (Halifax) is the recipient of the$1,000 Charlotte Wilson-Hammond/Visual Arts Nova Scotia Award and is currently studying at the Master of Applied Arts Resident Program at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC. (Award supported by the Wilson-Hammond family and by Visual Arts Nova Scotia.) Singer Brittany Cann (Halifax) is the recipient of the$1,500 Portia White Award for voice and is currently in her final year studying for her Bachelor of Music degree at Dalhousie University.  (Award sponsored by the Music-in-Medicine and Humanities-HEALS Program, Dalhousie University.) Dancer Chloe Hart (Halifax) is the recipient of the $1,500 Robert George Jackson Award for dance and is studying dance with École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal. (Award supported by the Jackson family.) Writer Pearl Chan (Halifax) is the recipient of the $1,500 RBC Emerging Artist Award for literary arts and is currently finishing her final year of a Bachelor of Arts degree from University Of King’s College and Dalhousie University. (Awarded sponsored by RBC Emerging Artist Fund.) Music theatre actor Robyn Harrison (Truro) is the recipient of the $1,000 Theatre Nova Scotia Award for theatre and is currently finishing her final year in the Music Theatre Performance BBA program at the Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Oakville, ON. (Award supported by Theatre Nova Scotia.) Flautist Claire Ahern (Dartmouth) is the recipient of the$1,000 Raymond Simpson Award for music and is currently studying for her Bachelor of Music degree at Dalhousie University. (Award supported by the Simpson family.) Oboeist Julia Millett (Lunenburg) is the recipient of the$750 Kenneth Elloway Award for classical performance and is currently studying for her Bachelor of Music degree at Memorial University in St. John’s, NL. (Award supported by the Elloway family.)  Ballet dancer Erin Atkinson (Amherst) is the recipient of the $1,000 Janice Merritt Flemming Award and is currently studying ballet at the Royal Winnipeg School of Ballet. (Award supported by the Flemming family.) Singer and songwriter Andrew Machum (Halifax) is the recipient of the $1,000 Chico Berardi Award and is currently in his first year studying for his Bachelor of Music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA. (Award sponsored by Music Nova Scotia.) Classical pianist Emily MacDonald (Bedford) is the recipient of the $1,000 Tietje Zonneveld Award and she is studying for her Masters of Music (Piano Performance) degree at the University of Ottawa. Filmmaker Sam Decoste (Halifax) is the recipient of the$1,000 Shelagh Mackenzie Award and is currently in the final year of her Master of Fine Arts in Film Animation and Media Studies at NSCAD University. In addition to the Special Awards announced today, the Nova Scotia Talent Trust gave out scholarships to 51 recipients earlier this year.  The NSTT’s scholarship application deadline date for Spring/Summer study is March 1, 2015 and for Fall/Winter study it is May 1, 2015. The NSTT is supported by the 2011 Canada Games Legacy Fund, RBC Foundation, Music Nova Scotia, Visual Arts Nova Scotia, Theatre Nova Scotia, Debut Atlantic, immediaC, the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, Norex.ca, NSTT Foundation, Dalhousie Music in Medicine HEALS Program, Alderney Landing Theatre, Support4Culture, Halifax Municipality, Business for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, and Arts Nova Scotia.  The NSTT is pleased to work in partnership with the province to develop and promote our cultural resources for all Nova Scotians. - 30 - A list of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust Scholarship Recipients for 2014 you can find below. Media Contact: Jacqueline Steudler, Executive Director, Nova Scotia Talent Trust P. O. Box 575 Halifax  NS  B3J 2R7 (902) 492 6801   director@nstalenttrust.ns.ca     www.nstalenttrust.ns.ca   List of the 2014 NSTT Scholarship and Nova Scotia Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship Recipients Dance - Ballet               Shona Duggan, Stellarton Jaeda Alders-Pearl, Coldbrook Dominique D’Arnall, Mineville Andris Kundzins, Hubley Gabrielle Murray,New Glasgow Hilary Knee, Halifax - Modern/Choreography Aliah Schwartz, Canning - Modern/Contemporary Brian William Ross, Halifax Chloe Hart, Halifax - Flamenco Francesca Nardi, Halifax Music - Keyboard - Piano Willem Blois, Halifax LaLa Lee, Halifax Kathryn Wagner, Lunenburg Lucas Porter, Port Williams Julia Morrison, Halifax Emily MacDonald, Bedford Ria Kim, Halifax Pierre Riley, Antigonish - Strings - Double Bass Peter Bull, Halifax - Strings - Violin Heemin Choi, Hammonds Plains - Voice - Opera Marcel d’Entremont, Merigomish Brittany Cann, Halifax Rita Wood, Dartmouth Benjamin Shaw, Halifax Patrick Simms, Cole Harbour Jodie Alcorn, New Glasgow - Voice - Contemporary Andrew Machum, Halifax - Brass - Euphonium Claire Amiro, Dartmouth - Woodwinds - Flute Claire Ahern, Dartmouth Emery Van de Wiel, Antigonish -Composition Lucas Oickle, Lower Branch -Jazz Composition/Bass John Janigan-Mills, Mahone Bay Theatre - Acting Rachel Hastings, Hammonds Plains Katerina Bakolias, Halifax - Music Theatre Robyn Harrison, Truro Tia Andriani, Dartmouth Katherine Norris, Dartmouth Film/Media Arts  - Animation Gwyneth Christoffel, Halifax Sam Decoste, Halifax Visual/Fine Arts  - Interdisciplinary Matthis Grunsky, Halifax - Ceramics Susan McKinnon, Halifax Literary Arts - Prose Pearl Chan, Halifax Elisabeth (Lis) van Berkel, Canning - Fiction/Poetry David Flemming, Dartmouth - Poetry Andrew Patterson, Halifax Clay Everest, Halifax Nova Scotia Arts Endowment Fund Scholarship Recipients Music:  Julia Millett, Lunenburg Andrew Son, Halifax Lilith Richter-Stephenson, Dartmouth Visual Arts:  Cameron Roberts, Halifax Dance:  Erin Atkinson, Amherst

The Alderney Landing Theatre was constructed as an integral part of the Alderney Landing complex, a diverse cultural centre carefully designed to beat in the heart of downtown Dartmouth and fulfill the area's stirring promise of economic and cultural revitalization.