History and Development

The Nova Scotia Talent Trust was established in 1944 principally to assist the career of Truro born contralto, Portia White. Members of the Halifax Ladies Club and voice teacher, Dr. Ernesto Vinci, strongly recommended to the provincial government of the day that, based on her outstanding talent, financial assistance be provided to Ms White to enable her to pursue a professional singing career. As a result of the support awarded by the Talent Trust, Ms White undertook professional training in New York City and went on to an illustrious concert career.

In 1949 the Talent Trust turned its attention to other gifted Nova Scotians. Since that time the Trust has assisted the professional development of over fifteen hundred Nova Scotians and has awarded scholarships totaling over 1.3 million dollars.

The Talent Trust and the Province of Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia Talent Trust was established through incorporation under the province's Companies Act (in the absence of a Societies Act in 1944). Although created as an autonomous organization, the Trust's first directors included provincial and municipal government representatives and its initial source of funds was a grant from the Province of Nova Scotia. Since its incorporation the Province has played a vital role in the funding and the administration of the Talent Trust's activities. For many years the secretariat function was fulfilled by the Department of Education. In 1983 this responsibility was given to the Culture Division, then a part of the Department of Culture, Recreation & Fitness, and now part of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.

Beginning in 1983 the Trust's board was chaired by the Deputy Minister (or their designate) for the Department responsible for Culture and its directors came from Nova Scotia's arts community. The board not only governed the Trust's operations, but also reviewed applications to select scholarship recipients.

In 1994 the Talent Trust was restructured to include the board of directors and a scholarship selection committee. Since that time the Scholarship Selection Committee, which is comprised of Nova Scotian artists and arts educators, has reviewed applications and selected scholarship and special award recipients.

The partnership between government and community allows the Talent Trust to direct nearly all of its financial resources to scholarships.

New Directions

In 2002 the Talent Trust named its first board chair from the community. Mr. Timothy Matthews was elected chair of the Board by the members at the Annual General Meeting in December. The decision had been made earlier in the year to discontinue the practice of having a government representative serve as chair. The Talent Trust wants to strengthen the support it receives from the community and having an individual from the community as chair better achieves this goal.

In the past few years the Talent Trust has been taking steps to increase its profile in the community. For example, it has organized performances by young music scholarship recipients at Government House. In 2003 the Trust produced a festival of artists, called "Tomorrow Today" and in 2005 the NSTT 60+ Gala Concert featuring both current and past scholarship recipients in all artistic disciplines.

Trust Recipients

Since 1944 the Talent Trust's scholarship recipients have come from a wide range of media within the disciplines of dance, music, theatre, visual arts, literary arts, and media arts. Recipients have studied in a variety of settings including summer festivals and instructional programs, professional arts training institutions, university training programs, and private instruction. They have undertaken these programs in Canada, the United States, and Europe in settings such as the National Ballet School of Canada, the National Theatre School of Canada, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the McGill University Conservatory. Many of the recipients have gone on to successful careers in the arts at home and abroad. From the Trust's first 40 years come names like harpsichordist Gordon Murray, organist John Grew, soprano Deborah Jeans, actor Don Allison, singer/actress Peggy Mahon, painter Jean Edmonds Hancock, photographer Sherman Hines, classical guitarist Dale Kavanagh, French horn player David Parker, soprano Sue Doran, and actress Sara Orenstein.

From recent years come artists still gaining in professional recognition such as dancer Ruth Ellen Kroll Jackson, actor Anne Marie Woods, poet Maureen Hull, and cellist Denise Djokic.