Reeny Smith Wins Two ECMA Awards

During the recent annual East Coast Music Association Awards, former Talent Trust scholarship recipient Reeny Smith won the R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for WWIII: Strength. Courage. Love. While she was at it, she took home the Bucky Adams Memorial Award. 

It’s been a very good year for the Preston born singer/songwriter. In March Reeny reached the top ten in CBC's Searchlight competition and recently her original music was featured in the locally produced CBC legal drama, Diggstown.

Since releasing her first in EP in 2015, “I Am Reeny,” Reeny Smith’s powerful voice and vibrant, emotional rollercoaster of a stage show have solidified her as one of the most enthralling artists in Canada.

Signing with Cymba Music Publishing in 2016, she released her breakout single, “Good Girl Swag”, a song with an unrelenting positivity in an increasingly harsh world. Smith went on to win 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.

She’s collaborated with artists like Quake Matthews, and opened for Anderson Paak at the Halifax Jazz Festival, but through it all, Smith says 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 songwriting work. Songwriting was never something I thought I was good at, so to have reached this level of validation means a great deal to me.” 

Bio from Reeny Smith's Website

Watch the official Good Girl Swag music video:

Celebrating Portia White as Catalyst on the 75th Anniversary of her Breakthrough Concert.

On March 13, 1944, Portia White delivered her breakthrough concert that changed her own life and many more. 75 years to the day, Portia White became the first Canadian ever to perform at the New York Town Hall. 

Hedley Rainnie’s portrait of White hangs in Government House

The concert initiated her ascent to become one of the best singers of the 20th century, a particularly incredible triumph considering the systemic racism of segregation. 

Internationally recognized in her day, Portia White is now revered as part of Canadian heritage. Her legacy represents the catalyst for the Talent Trust and its 75-year commitment to aspiring artists across the province. Since 1985, many deserving vocalists have been awarded the Talent Trust’s Portia White Award, including the 2016 winner Shanice Skinner, also a female African Nova Scotia operatic singer.

To celebrate the anniversary of this historic achievement Cecilia Concerts will bring Grammy Award-winning, African American Harolyn Blackwell to Halifax to perform in "Genius Child: Portia White at Town Hall" on Nov 9, 2019. 

The concert revisits some of the material Portia White sang in her milestone concert while also showcasing a collection of beautiful songs encompassing poetry by the timeless, and timely, African American writer and social activist Langston Hughes. Blackwell will be accompanied by prize-winning Texan pianist Danny Zelibor.

Read the Talent Trust editorial “Celebrate Portia White’s Legacy,” published in The Coast.

Reeny Smith to sing at Opening Gala for Prismatic Arts Festival on September 14, 2017

Prismatic Arts Festival Opening Gala

Reeny Smith
(photo: website Prismatic Arts Festival)

Reeny Smith

September 14 at 6 p.m.

Halifax Central Library 

Event is Free.

Reeny Smith is a talented, 25 year-old R&B/Pop artist from North Preston, Nova Scotia who has been singing and playing the piano since the age of five. She credits her inspiration for music ... 
Read more at:
http://prismaticfestival.com/program/

Reeny Smith performs with Symphony Nova Scotia July 19 - July 26, 2017 at various locations.

Reeny Smith will perform with Symphony Nova Scotia

Photo: Reeny Smith website

Wednesday, July 19, 12:30 and 2:00 pm
Pier 21, Rowe Hall, Halifax

Saturday, July 22, 11:00 am and 12:30 pm
Alderney Landing Theatre, Dartmouth

Tuesday, July 25, 11:00 am and 12:30 pm
Wednesday, July 26, 11:00 am and 12:30 pm
Halifax Central Library O’Regan Hall, Halifax

From the Symphony Nova Scotia website: 

Celebrate Nova Scotia’s vibrant musical landscape in this lively, fun, and free concert experience for the whole family! Featuring Symphony Nova Scotia, singer Reeny Smith, and drummer Trevor Gould, this full-orchestra event brings together Mi’kmaq chants and drumming, African Nova Scotian songs, Acadian fiddling and dancing, and new symphonic music – plus traditional favourites like Stan Rogers’ The Bluenose and Farewell to Nova Scotia. Don’t miss this symphonic celebration of the rich, colourful, and powerful music of our beloved home by the sea.

You can find more information about Reeny Smith at http://www.iamreeny.com/

Reeny Smith at Halifax Jazz Festival July 15, 2017 at 8:30pm Main Stage

Reeny Smith will be singing for you at the Halifax Jazz Festival 2017

photo: Reeny Smith - Jazz Festival website

Saturday July 15th, 8:30pm

Waterfront Main Stage

With Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals


From the Jazz Festival website: 
Smith’s silky soulful voice—honed as a jazz major at St. F.X.—is undeniable. She’s quickly become a rising R&B/hip-hop artist in just a few years, accomplishing much in a scant amount of time, including an opening slot for Grammy winner Lisa Fischer, winning three African Nova Scotian Music Association awards, and in 2015 being named Artist-in-Residence at Casino Nova Scotia. A sensitive, powerful performer, Smith will transfix you as she lifts you up.

Open Waters Festival with Gina Burgess and Janice Jackson from January 6-10, 2017

Open Waters Festival

January 6-10, 2017

Saturday, Jan. 7: 

Gina Burgess Trio, 10:45 PM at the Company House.

Sunday, Jan. 8: 

Vocalypse Productions Janice Jackson, PROTEST, 7:30 PM at Dunn Theatre.

The Open Waters Festival of New and Improvised Music celebrates the confluence of musical traditions, the mixing of the spontaneous and the calculated, the spray between the traditional and experimental.

Dalhousie Arts Centre Box Office: https://kil-dacweb-3.cohn.dal.ca/online

Further information for all 14 events can found at: http://www.upstreammusic.org/

Reeny Smith wins African Nova Scotian Artist of the Year

Reeny Smith (iamreeny.com)

Congratulations Reeny for winning 2016 African Nova Scotian Artist of the Year!

Reeny Smith is a talented, emerging artist from North Preston, Nova Scotia and has been singing and playing the piano since the age of five. 

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.

She has recently opened..... 

Find more information about Reeny on her website at http://www.iamreeny.com

Janice Isabel Jackson to perfom at the Company House October 11, 2016 at 7 PM

Sylvie Proulx, guitar

Janice Isabel Jackson, soprano

Tuesday, October 11^th, 2016 

at 7 p.m.
Company House, 

2202 Gottingen Street, Halifax

Otros Aires is a celebration of Latin American Tradition song and rarely performed Spanish baroque airs.  

Otros Aires is a concert where Spain meets South America, where classical meets traditional, where Salsa meets Tango.  The music reflects both the African indigenous and European influences that define Latin American music.  
Come hear two outstanding Atlantic Canadian musicians, Janice Isabel Jackson, soprano and Sylvie Proulx, guitar, perform unique, whimsical, passionate, and exotic songs!

Tickets:  $20/$15 at the door and online at www.tickethalifax.com

Reeny Smith wins Casino of NS Artist in Residence

Congratulations Reeny Smith!

Music Nova Scotia Press Release:

Reeny Smith at www.iamreeny.com

North Preston’s Reeny Smith won the title of Casino Nova Scotia’s Artist in Residence and the $20,000 in funding for career development. Music Nova Scotia received over 35 applications from artists around the province. Judges narrowed it down to ten for interviews, six for the performance and one for the residency.
  
“I was the first performer that night – I guess I was lucky number one,” stated Smith. "This was an incredible experience. I am happy that I made the decision to pursue what I am truly passionate about.”

 “Tonight was an amazing entertainment experience. There is so much musical talent in Nova Scotia and it was well represented on stage.  It was an extremely difficult decision based on the quality of talent and we hope to see many of the candidates perform at our venue in the future.  Reeny is a great fit to the entertainment experience we provide to our customers, employees, locals and visitors to the province. We are looking forward to working with Reeny over the next year,” stated Ken Murray, Assistant General Manager, Casino Nova Scotia.

Over the next year, Smith will have performance opportunities at Casino Nova Scotia Halifax and Sydney as well as the $20,000 in funding to assist with developing their career through recording, and marketing. Music Nova Scotia will provide career path support and exciting international showcase opportunities such as Nova Scotia Music Week and Canadian Music Week.

Smith will be performing at this summer’s TD Halifax Jazz Festival and the Harmony Bazaar Festival in Lockeport.

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

Reeny Smith at the Rebecca Cohn

Reeny Smith (2012 MATS Award and 2010 Portia White Award) performs in Halifax on 

Thursday, April 2 at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium

Opening the night for Ms. Lisa Fisher & Grand Baton.  

For more information please go to:http://halifaxjazzfestival.ca/ms-lisa-fischer-grand-baton-reeny-smith

or visit Reeny's webstite: http://www.iamreeny.com/

Portia White Portrait Unveiling at Government House

On February 9, 2015 the Nova Scotia Talent Trust was invited by Their Honours to Government House to the unveiling of the Portia White portrait that was donated to the NSTT in 2013 by Tom Vinci and is now on a long term loan at Government House for public viewing. Below you will find Adrian Hoffman's address to the guests at Government House. It will give you insight into the history of the Portia White portrait.

During the unveiling ceremony Brittany Cann, 2014 NSTT Portia White Award winner, 

treated the guests to an outstanding performance. We thank her and pianist Gregory Myra for sharing their talent with us. We also want to thank Portia White's family for attending the unveiling, Tom Vinci and Sylvia Hamilton for their support, the staff at Government House and especially His Honour Brigadier-General The Honourable J.J. Grant, CMM, ONS, CD (Ret'd), Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia for hosting the event.

Elissa Barnard wrote an excellent article about Tom Vinci, his family and the Portia White Portrait in the Chronicle Herald. You can find it at http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/1267798-son-of-portia-white%E2%80%99s-mentor-thrilled-to-see-singer%E2%80%99s-portrait-to-government-house

Portia White Portrait Unveiling at 

Government House

Address by Adrian Hoffman, Chair NSTT

Your Honours, invited guests and friends:

I’m especially pleased today to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors to the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, an organization that has just celebrated its Seventieth Anniversary since its origins in 1944, founded to support the career of Nova Scotia contralto, Portia White.

 I would like to thank Their Honours, Brigadier-General The Honourable J.J. Grant, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and Mrs. Joan Grant, for hosting this special unveiling of a work of art that has a very special meaning for the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, the Province of Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada.

In 1939, The Halifax Ladies Music Club helped Portia White to continue her vocal studies here in Halifax at the Halifax Conservatory of Music with Dr. Ernesto Vinci. Dr. Vinci was born in Berlin, Ernst Moritz Wreszynski in 1898. He studied voice and also obtained medical degrees in Berlin and Milan, Italy. In 1938 he left Europe and landed in New York. After receiving a reference from none other than Arturo Toscanini, he became the director of the vocal department of the Halifax Conservatory of Music.

It was if the stars were aligned; a highly trained European classical vocalist and teacher became available to a young musical talent endowed with a gorgeous contralto voice in need of coaching.

Two years later, at the age of thirty, Portia White made her official debut at the Eaton Auditorium in Toronto on November 7^th, 1941 to critical acclaim. In 1944 the Portia White Trust, later to be called the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, was established to further support Portia White’s growing international career.

It was probably in 1943 that the successful painter, book illustrator and stage, screen and radio actor, Hedley Graham James Rainnie, painted the portrait of Portia we are about to unveil here at Government House. Rainnie, was born in London, England in 1914, immigrated to Canada in 1940 and was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in January of 1946.

The portrait eventually made its way to Ernesto Vinci. After Vinci’s death in 1983, it was amongst the belongings passed on to his son, Thomas Vinci, now an Adjunct Retiree Professor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University. For many years this portrait had been on display in the lower atrium of the Dal Arts Centre foyer near the entrance to the Dalhousie Art Gallery.

In 2013 Professor Tom Vinci donated the portrait to the Nova Scotia Talent Trust. We thank him for that generous gift.

With the help of some consultation that included the staff here at Government House and others in the community it was agreed that it would be on long term loan here at Government House in order that it be accessible for viewing by as many as possible. One of those involved was Sylvia Hamilton, who continues working on bringing the fascinating story of Portia White to the attention of all of us.

The Rainnie portrait is an important piece of our cultural history and The Nova Scotia Talent Trust is proud of the seventy year association it has with the legacy left by one of Nova Scotia’s most talented performing artists and teachers, Portia White.

Janice Jackson NSTT 1989 Portia White Award winner in Salsa Barocca

The Music Room Chamber Players presents:

Salsa Barocca

Janice Jackson – soprano

Sylvie Proulx – guitar 

Music Room Chamber Players recital series on Wednesday, March 12, at 7 pm.

Spanish Baroque combined with Latin America Traditional Songs

MUSIC BROUGHT TO LIFE FROM RARE MANUSCRIPTS FOUND IN SOUTH AMERICA’S OLDEST CATHEDRALS

Salsa Barocca, with Janice Jackson, soprano and Sylvie Proulx, guitar, is an all Latin American program that explores the folk genre along with the Baroque repertoire of the Spanish colonial period.  Selections feature voice and guitar arrangements ranging from chaconas to tangos.   Salsa Barocca combines music which reflects the African indigenous and European influences that define Latin American music.  Both Janice and Sylvie have extensive experience performing contemporary, baroque, and tango.  Salsa Barocca is a natural extension of their quest for exciting, unique and moving programs.

Music Room Chamber Players recital series on Wednesday, March 12, at 7 pm.

The Music Room: 6181 Lady Hammond Road, Halifax.

Tickets for the recital are $20/15.

For more information call 902 429 9467 / www.scotiafestival.ns.ca. 
Free parking behind the League Savings and Mortgage Credit Union, 6074 Lady Hammond Road.