Volunteers Sought for the NS Talent Trust Scholarship Selection Committee

Are you a professional artist interested in helping to shape Nova Scotia’s cultural future? We are currently seeking volunteer jury members to join the Nova Scotia Talent Trust’s Scholarship Selection Committee.

The NSTT Scholarship Selection Committee is made up of 12 professional NS artists, 2 from each of the following artistic disciplines: dance, theatre, music, film/media, literary and visual arts.  

The Committee meets three times a year: twice in the spring to review, evaluate and award NSTT scholarships from potential applicants; and once in the fall, to discuss policy issues and decide who will receive Special Awards from among the successful spring recipients.  The NSTT Scholarship Selection Committee typically reviews between 95-125 applications per year.  

The volunteer committee makes recommendations to the NSTT Board of Directors but is completely arm’s length.  The Committee is seeking professional artistic experience among members and will work to strike a balance between the various artistic disciplines.  The Committee will take into consideration ethnic, cultural and regional diversity and welcomes applicants from all cultural interests.  The Committee reimburses its volunteer jury members for out-of-pocket travel expenses.

Deadline for applications: 17 September 2014

Please send a letter of interest and a short bio together with your résumé to Andrea Dymond, Scholarship Program Coordinator, at scholarship(at)nstalenttrust(dot)ns(dot)ca.  

For more information about the NSTT, please visit our website at www(dot)nstalenttrust(dot)ns(dot)ca

Reeny Smith at the Jazz Festival on July 9

The Halifax Jazz Festival's Nova Scotia Super Soul Review features six of Nova Scotia’s rising star vocalists and a supporting band made up of some of the region's finest emerging talent in R&B and soul.

Reeny Smith (first row on the right)

Reeny Smith was born and raised in North Preston, Nova Scotia. She has been singing and playing piano since the age of five at St. Thomas Baptist Church. She studied piano for three years at the Conservatory Of Music, after which she studied privately with Halifax based pianist Paul Simons. Reeny is currently studying music at St Francis Xavier University.

2011 was a whirlwind year for Reeny. She received the Up and Coming Award at the African Nova Scotian Music Awards, participated as a young artist in the 2011 Canada Winter Games National Artist Program. She also received the 2011 Black Cultural Centre President’s Award. In November, she performed at the 10th annual Portia White Award Gala Concert. She won the Nova Scotia Talent Trust’s Portia White Award in 2010. Reeny received the Rising Star Award at the 2012 African Nova Scotian Music Awards, and the Galaxie Rising Star Award at the 2013 Halifax Jazz Festival. Reeny continues to “wow” her audiences with impeccable vocals, and has been referred to as the Canadian Alicia Keys.

http://halifaxjazzfestival.ca/artist/nova-scotia-super-soul-review

Sarah Burwash at Point Pleasant Park

GATES FOR SOJOURN Sarah Burwash, HRM’s artist-in-residence at Point Pleasant Park, will be spending the next several weeks creating a series of drawings, animations and park-based installations.

The narratives in Burwash’s drawings will come to life in various forms and mediums nestled in different corners of the parks for the public to encounter and uncover and will be presented at the end of June. OPEN STUDIO HOURS: Every Thursday from 4-7 pm for the month of May and June. GATEKEEPER’S LODGE SOCIAL CLUB: Burwash will be hosting ping-pong at the lodge every Wednesday from 7-9 pm until the end of June.
http://sarahburwash.com/

M.E. Sparks at VANS Corridor Gallery

Image: Google Images (detail), 2014, charcoal on paper, 24 x (8” x 15”)

VANS

corridor gallery Image M.E. Sparks June 5 - 26, 2014

Emerging New Glasgow based painter M.E. Sparks exhibits a series of drawings derived from Google Image searching a previous work, on view in the corridor gallery from June 5 – 26. Describing her process of abstraction, Sparks explains:

Google Images is created using Google’s reverse image search capabilities. The source image for each drawing is derived from googling a digital image of an existing drawing, resulting in a series of progressively disparate images (much like the game “Telephone”). While Google Images does not recognize the subject matter of each drawing, “visually similar images” are found through recurring formal and abstract qualities. Through the removal of original context and connotation, the images are further objectified and abstracted by Google Images’ search engine algorithms. This work explores the idea of instant and universal access to unlimited imagery, illustrating the ever-growing gap between past and present modes of image sourcing.

M.E. Sparks holds a BFA, 2013 from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University in Halifax, NS. She is currently an artist in residence for the 2013-2014 NSCAD – New Glasgow Community Studio Residency Program. In September 2014 she will begin her Master of Applied Arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC. Sparks is a current recipient of Arts Nova Scotia Creation Grant and Nova Scotia Talent Trust Scholarship, as well as the Gordon Smith Painting Scholarship (Sept. 2014). Her recent work explores the categorical grey area between abstraction and representation. As a painter, she is interested in the relevance, persistence and variability of the medium.
www.mesparks.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.

Visual Arts Nova Scotia advances the visual arts through leadership, education, and communication.

For further information regarding the exhibition, please contact:
Becky Welter-Nolan
Programming Coordinator
Visual Arts Nova Scotia
1113 Marginal Road, Halifax, NS B3H 4P7
902.423.4694    1.866.225.8267   f: 902.422.0881
communicate@visualarts.ns.ca 

Jana Miller, soprano performing in Halifax

The Music Room on 
June 19th at 7:30pm
The Paths of Love: Join soprano Jana Miller and harpist Kristan Toczko for a beautiful evening of songs for harp and voice. This magical program of well-loved songs and arias will take you on a tour through the British Isles, France, Austria, Israel and Italy, exploring and enjoying different expressions of love in each culture. The event takes place at 

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. 
Call (902) 802-1526 for reservations.
 

Elsa Hodder in concert June 13 in Halifax

This is Elsa Hodder's special graduation concert for her years of training at the conservatory and in the Halifax area, before she starts to head out into the world performing more.

Maritime Conservatory Concert Hall, Halifax
June 13 at 7 pm

Jean Archibald, soprano performs in Halifax on May 1st and May 4th

Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

Jane Archibald

Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Halifax

Featuring:
Jane Archibald, soprano (NSTT scholarship recipient)

Bernhard Gueller, conductor

Mozart: Symphony no. 25 • Concert arias
Tchaikovsky: Mozartiana (Suite no. 4)
Strauss: “Grossmächtige Prinzessin” from Ariadne auf Naxos

Since her beginnings in Truro, Nova Scotia, Jane Archibald has emerged as one of the most in-demand sopranos of our time. Her stratospheric rise to fame and “brilliant vocal pyrotechnics” have enthralled both critics and audiences alike (The Globe and Mail). Now, Jane returns home for two very special performances with Symphony Nova Scotia. In this first festival concert, Jane will sing several of Mozart’s virtuoso concert arias, alongside “Grössmachtige Prinzessin” from Strauss’ beloved Ariadne auf Naxos. Our expanded orchestra also performs Tchaikovsky’s stunning “Mozartiana” and Mozart’s Symphony no. 25.

Tickets: $30-57 (HST included). Or, buy a ticket package to save up to 30% and receive special benefits and rewards.