Halifax pianist Lala Lee received the $1,500 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Artistic Achievement, the Nova Scotia Talent Trust’s highest honour for a student in any discipline, Wednesday in Halifax.
Lee studies at the Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto.
The Talent Trust recognized scholarship and special award recipients in a ceremony at the Halifax Central Library.
Created to support the career of contralto Portia White 75 years ago, the organization has continued to support Nova Scotia artists as they pursue studies toward establishing professional careers in the arts. The awards ceremony was the culmination of the Talent Trust's 75th anniversary year.
Halifax dancer Gabrielle Kachan and visual artist Gillian Baldwin, from Port Williams, received the two 2011 Canada Games Young Artist of Excellence Awards, valued at $10,000 each.
Kachan is studying contemporary dance at École de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal.
Baldwin is studying visual arts (digital image/3D) at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Presented for the first time in 2013, these awards can go 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,” according to a news release.
The Talent Trust presented two new awards in honour of philanthropist Peggy Corkum and visual artist, teacher and mentor Susan Wood.
The Peggy Corkum/Musique Royale Legacy Award is for a piano student. The Susan Wood Award is for visual arts studies in print making, drawing or painting.
Pianist Devin Huang of Bedford is the recipient of the $1,000 Corkum award. Huang studies with Lynn Stodola of Halifax.
Visual artist Ada Denil of Halifax is the recipient of the $1,500 Wood award. Denil is studying sculpting and drawing at NSCAD University in Halifax.
There are 10 special award recipients, “each of whom demonstrates exceptional potential to become a professional artist,” according to the release.
- Musical theatre actor Ryan MacDougall (Hammonds Plains) is the recipient of the $1,500 RBC Emerging Artist Award. MacDougall studies musical theatre at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont.
- French horn player Mimisu Lee (Halifax) was given the $1,000 Yue Lih (Lee) and Marion Kuo Award for exceptional commitment and potential in music as an instrumentalist. Lee is studying French horn at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto.
- Visual artist Jessie McLaughlin (Bedford) is the recipient of the $1,000 Charlotte Wilson-Hammond/Visual Arts Nova Scotia Award. McLaughlin studies fashion and textile arts at NSCAD University.
- Baritone Nicholas Higgs (New Glasglow) received the $1,500 Talent Trust Portia White Award for voice. Higgs studies at the University of Toronto.
- Ballet and contemporary dancer Sahara Nyathi (Halifax) is the recipient of the
- $2,000 Robert George Jackson Award for dance. Nyathi spent the summer studying at the National Ballet School in Toronto.
- Filmmaker Rose-Marie Daniels (Port Williams) was given the $1,000 Shelagh Mackenzie Award in filmmaking. Daniels is studying film production and post-production at Sheridan College.
- Musical theatre actor Brooke Mitchell (Beaver Bank) is the recipient of the $500 Theatre Nova Scotia Award. Mitchell is studying musical theatre at the Neptune Theatre School in Halifax.
- Composer Jessica MacIsaac (Halifax) received the $1,000 Kenneth Elloway Award for composition. MacIsaac attended Valencia International Performance Academy in Valencia, Spain in the summer.
- Ballet dancer Julia Barkhouse (Dartmouth) was given the $1,000 Janice Merritt Flemming Award and is studying at Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto.
- Flutist Amelia Bruce (Dartmouth) is the recipient of the $1,000 Raymond Simpson Award for music. Bruce is studying at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montreal.
