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The NSTT is a registered charity supporting Nova Scotia’s emerging artists with scholarships in all arts disciplines in their formative years since 1944.
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Nova Scotia Talent Trust gives $48,500 in Special Awards to 18 Emerging Artists
Thursday, November 24, 2022
The Talent Trust Holiday Guide
The holiday season is upon us! Pick up unique, beautiful gifts for your friends and family and support Talent Trust artists! Check out our holiday guide below:
MUSIC
Gina Burgess received Talent Trust scholarships in 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2007. Click here for her new solo album!
BOOKS
SHOWS
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT
TALENT TRUST MERCH!
Will you help support scholarships for emerging artists? Check out our Raffle!
Want to hear more about the Talent Trust? Please sign up for our newsletter.
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Spencer MacKay's "Scouter Joe" now available for download!
Click here to watch Scouter Joe!
Filmmaker Spencer MacKay received a Talent Trust scholarship in 2021 and went on to win the Shelagh MacKenzie award. Based on a true(ish) story, his comedy film "Scouter Joe" is so much more than that - a labour of love, rooted in friendship, which served as a therapeutic outlet during a difficult time. The story behind the film is almost as good as the film itself - here's a behind-the-scenes perspective from Spencer:
"About 15 or 16 years ago, my friend Shawn created this weird random character who had the impeccable ability to cut the bottom of a water bottle off with a hatchet. This character was created for these nonsensical stories that he would type on my laptop to make me laugh in class and the funny thing is, what started as such a stupid absurd joke between two great friends in a classroom, has now become so much more. Not only has it been recognized by several film festivals with the truly phenomenal Chris Halef playing the character exactly as I always imagined him to be, but it's a film that fundamentally changed my life for the better in every way imaginable.
(Pictured above: Actor Lincoln MacNeil, Spencer, and Shawn)
2020 was a difficult time for everyone, this is a film that represents what the last four months of 2020 was like for me. When I was making the movie, it was right in the middle of me losing my grandfather and so this film became a very big part of me processing my grief with that loss.
This is a character that I've been wanting to bring to the screen ever since I was nine or ten years old, and it's been incredible to me to watch something that was, quite frankly, just a stupid random joke between two friends in a fourth grade classroom, grow into this film that was recognized by film festivals, that people are talking about and that people, at least from everything that I have heard, seem to be really enjoying. Watching Shawn’s reaction to the film was one of the most incredible moments of my entire life because in that moment, I watched a fully grown adult man, rediscover his childlike awe and wonder in real time as a he saw a character that he in many ways created, be brought to life on the screen. Click here for a behind-the-scenes exclusive interview with Shawn, who talks about the inspiration for the character, Scouter Joe.
This was also the first time that I ever received any funding to make a film. The Talent Trust was the first organization to support me in this way, and thanks to that support, I've been able to use this production as a launch pad to do more and be more ambitious with the projects I take on. Since recieveing the Talent Trust's support, I've been able to go on and recieve grants from AFCOOP, Arts Nova Scotia, Tangled Arts + Disability in Toronto, the Canada Council for the Arts, etc. I couldn't be more grateful that this production has really changed the trajectory of where I'm able to go next in my career and in my life.
At the time, this was the largest scale production, I had ever produced and directed. It was a film with a new location for each of the three days we filmed, over a dozen cast members and extras (many of whom were children), a very ambitious scope that we were going for (as I'd often joke that the film should 'look way better than a film about a bottle cutting scout should have any right to be"), it was a very ambitious production and to everyone's credit, everybody really stepped up to the plate.
Something that I'm still baffled by is the fact that Scouts Canada actually signed off on us using their branding in the film. That was a massive success for us right at the start of the production, and I cannot believe that a character that is as much of a buffoon as Scouter Joe is, was discussed by people at the top executive level of a nationally recognized and beloved organization. I give a lot of credit to Scouts Canada for being such good sports about the whole thing because they really did not have to be as kind and generous with us as they were.
One of the things that I'm the most proud of is the cast in the movie. Chris Halef in particular really was spot on with exactly what I was going for and to his credit we threw a lot at him to deal with. I mean, it's one thing when you see the movie with the music and the effects and everything put together, but it's another thing entirely when he's a grown man just sitting on the ground grunting as loudly as he could as he reaches for a plastic bottle mere feet away. That takes a lot of trust, comfort and talent to be able to do. This was also the first time that I worked with child actors and so I learned a lot about what that process was like and spent time working with Sky Talent during the casting process to find those kids.
Scouter Joe isn’t going to change your life... don't get me wrong, I think you’ll have a lot of fun, you’ll laugh a lot, it’ll move you emotionally, you’ll be able to watch it over and over again, I really do feel like this is a great movie and I’m really proud of it. But it’s not going to change your life… it did however, change mine, and everything that you see from me moving forward as both a person and a filmmaker, is because of this film. I hope that you will take the time to watch it for FREE and that you enjoy it as much I and everyone else enjoyed making it."
- Spencer MacKay
Will you help support scholarships for emerging artists like Spencer? Check out our Raffle!
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Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Nova Sinfonia Concert Featuring Soloist Alex Yang
Founded in 1995, Nova Sinfonia provides an opportunity for professional and emerging musicians to rehearse and perform together. The symphony orchestra performs classical, romantic, 20th-century and pop music concerts. They recently welcomed Melissa Doiron as their first Artistic Director and performed their first concert under her lead. This concert was held October 24 at St. Andrew's Church and featured the as its soloist none other than Talent Trust scholarship recipient, Alex Yang.
The concert opened with Crown Imperial: Coronation March by William Walton and the church filled with the beautiful sounds of Nova Sinfonia. Once that piece finished, Alex stepped out before the crowd with more confidence than most adults have, let alone teens. He sat down to play and it was easy to become mesmerized by his incredible talent. Without even sheet music in front of him, the music effortlessly flowed through his fingertips. Everyone was leaning to the side to catch a glimpse of his hands flying across the keys. Alex beautifully performed Piano Concerto No.2 in G Minor, Op. 22 by Camille Saint-Saens with the orchestra. It was moving and breathtaking, and every note from every instrument was in unison, thanks to the incredible conducting by Melissa Doiron. Once the Concerto ended, the audience was not ready to let Alex go, and he played Etude Op.10 No.4 by Chopin (also known as Torrent) as an encore. Needless to say, it was fantastic.
The concert concluded with the Atlantic Canadian Premiere of Louise Farrenc's Symphony No. 3. This was every bit as wonderful as the rest of the concert. To see the concert in its entirety, visit the link on our Facebook page here.
Alex is a Grade 9 student at Halifax Grammar School and has studied under Professor Lynn Stodola since 2015. As one of the youngest Talent Trust scholarship recipients, his list of achievements and accolades is already quite impressive. He was the winner of the 2022 Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition and won the Gordon Murray Rising Star Award for 4 years at the Nova Scotia Kiwanis Music Festival. He has also taken home the Halifax Ladies' Music Club Junior Award and George Fleming Memorial Senior String Award, as well as the Dr. Piano and Yamaha Rose Bowl and Kiwanis President's Cup. He was also the recipient of the Grand Award in the 2022 Federation of Canadian Music Festivals. At just 14 years old, it is exciting to imagine what his future holds!
Will you help support scholarships for emerging artists like Alex? Check out our Raffle!
Want to hear more about the Talent Trust? Please sign up for our newsletter.
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
All the Talent Trust artists featured at Nocturne Halifax
This year's Nocturne: Art at Night event is going to be spectacular. This Halifax art festival celebrates Nova Scotia's visual artists with installations at local art galleries, free-standing displays to experience, and arts programming that inspires anyone and everyone to experience art in a new way. Running from October 13 to 15, several Talent Trust scholarship recipients will have works on display. Here's where to find them:
Arjun Lal: Anchor Artist
"Full Moon is a 3 day portal accessible throughout the Nocturne Art at Night Festival.
How do we move when we are stuck?
I have been searching for portals. The ephemeral moments where places and times intersect and create gateways into other spaces. Accessible points within the universe that generate movements and changes."
2 Ochterloney St, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4W1
Wheelchair accessible
Letitia Fraser: Anchor Artist
Viewing for Windsor Foundation Lecture Theatre (wheelchair accessible): Oct 13th, 5 pm-9 pm, Oct 15th, 6 pm-midnight
Ada Denil
Excel Garay
"Meet Me at the Dinner Table: three audio-recorded voices are heard over a dinner table but any physical clues of who these individuals are remain absent.
The materiality of this sound installation reflects on the complicated detached memories of diasporic communities from their food systems due to effects of migration, ecological shifts in food production, or recipes lost in time. Each voice yearns for experiences they no longer have access to—and their desires speak volumes."
1880 Hollis St, Wheelchair accessible
Jacinte Armstrong
6036 Coburg Rd
Oct 13th, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
"I Am What I Am is a group show based on constructs of identity. In this travelling and ever-evolving group show participating artists have been asked to showcase work that asks us to probe ideas surrounding who we are, how we are perceived, and why does it all matter?"
6016 University Ave
Wheelchair accessible
To see the full line-up of Nocturne performances and installations, please visit their website.
Want to help support our scholarships? Check out our Raffle!
Want to hear more about the Talent Trust? Please sign up for our newsletter.