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(July 19, 2022) – The Music Nova Scotia Artist in Residence Program returns to celebrate the province’s best new acts – the winner will walk away with a $10 000 cash prize, mentorship, coaching, and more! The Grand Oasis Stage in Halifax will host the MNS Artist in Residence finals Friday, September 9, 2022 with performances by the top five and the 2021 winner KXNG Wooz. The event returns with support from Halifax Regional Municipality, Light House and Canada’s Music Incubator. The Artist in Residence program aims to provide a local emerging musician or group with financial and professional assistance to develop their career.
Applications are open from July 19 – August 1, 11:59pm AT. The top five will be chosen based on their online applications and submitted music. Apply here. The winner will be chosen after a live performance of the finalists at Grand Oasis Stage, Grand Parade in Halifax on September 9. For more info on scoring please see the Rules and Regulations. It’s free to apply; submissions are open to Music Nova Scotia Members only. To become a member of Music Nova Scotia, head to musicnovascotia.ca/join.
You are not eligible for the Artist in Residence program if you are defined as Artist II or Artist III levels in the Music Nova Scotia Investment Program. If you are unsure of your level in the Music Nova Scotia Investment Programs, please contact Julien Matwawana, Interim Education and Investment Program Manager: julien@musicnovascotia.ca.
The top five acts will receive an $500 honorarium for their performance at the Grand Oasis stage and must be available September 9 to perform.
$10 000 cash prize
Paid performance opportunities at various HRM events (to be determined)
Paid performance opportunity at Nova Scotia Music Week 2022
One (1) year membership to Music Nova Scotia ($50)
1-day video shoot in the television studio (value $5000)
1-year coworking membership at Light House Link (value $2400)
Three (3), one-hour, virtual mentorship meetings with Canada’s Music Incubator (CMI) mentors to be scheduled at artist’s discretion (within one year and subject to CMI mentor availability). The artist gets to set the agenda for the meetings based on their needs and priorities. (value $1500)
(August 18, 2022) – Music Nova Scotia (MNS) is pleased to announce the top five acts vying for the MNS Artist in Residence! Advocates of Truth, Jody Upshaw, Shay Pitts, The Gilberts, and Yohvn Blvck will be performing for the grand prize at the Grand Oasis Stage in Halifax, September 9, 2022. The event returns with support from Halifax Regional Municipality, Light House Arts Centre, and Canada’s Music Incubator. The Artist in Residence program aims to provide a local emerging musician or group with financial and professional assistance to develop their career. This year, the selected act will be awarded $20,000 in cash and prizes.
Join Music Nova Scotia from 7 PM – 10 PM at the Grand Oasis Stage in downtown Halifax. Get your free pass here. Public voting will happen in person during the event; don’t miss the chance to support your favourite new artists in Nova Scotia.
(Sept 9th, 2022) – After a 2-month long search 5 incredible performances, and over 350 public votes; the judge’s votes have been counted. Music Nova Scotia would like to congratulate Jody Upshaw, on becoming the official 2022 Artist in Residence.
The grand prize includes $10,000 cash and over $10,000 value in other prizes to help further support their career over the next year. This year, Ria Mae, Tara Taylor, and Tara Thorne were the live judges for the event. “We were blown away by the amount of talent!” The top five performers were selected by a jury of industry professionals based on their initial applications, and the final decision was made by the live judges on the artists’ performances in conjunction with a public vote.
“This impressive group of talented artists represents the high-quality level of so many of our homegrown artists. said Fiona Diamond, Music Nova Scotia’s Interim Executive Director.
“It is vital we continue to support our emerging artists as we continue to rebuild Nova Scotia’s live music sector.” Music Nova Scotia would like to thank the Halifax Regional Municipality, LightHouse, Canada’s Music Incubator, and the Music Managers Forum for sponsoring this year’s event.
(September 2nd, 2021) – Music Nova Scotia (MNS) is pleased to announce the top five acts vying for the MNS Artist in Residence! The Bombadils, Kids Losing Sleep, KXNG WOOZ, LXVNDR, and Pillow Fite will be performing for the grand prize at the Grand Oasis Stage in Halifax, September 17th, 2021.
Returning with support from Halifax Regional Municipality and Light House, the Artist in Residence Program will provide a local emerging musician or group with financial and professional support as well as performance opportunities to help develop their career. This year, the selected act will be awarded $20,000 in cash and prizes.
(September 17th, 2021) – Congratulations to KNXG WOOZ, the official 2021 Artist in Residence for Music Nova Scotia. The grand prize includes $10,000 cash and over $10,000 value in other prizes to help further support the artists career over the next year. This year, Dena Williams, Erin Costelo, and Tara Taylor were the live judges for the event.
“We were blown away by the amount of talent. It is clear that time in lockdown and isolation did not go wasted by all the performers tonight!” The top five performers were selected by a jury of industry professionals based on their initial applications, and the final decision was made by the live judges on the artists’ performances in conjunction with a public vote.
Kxng Wooz is a Canadian hip hop artist from the East Coast who started off hosting monthly R.A.W Cyphers in 2013 until 2016. He followed that up in 2015 by creating the annual festival called U.N.I (United Not Isolated) which was created to bring young athletes, artists, and other communities together in one space to create exposure for all.
He has been a consistent performer year after year for festivals like Future Forest, Evolve, and Hopscotch. April of 2017 is when Wooz really took a leap as an artist by releasing his first digital EP “Entering The…” followed by “Abyss” later that month. This project was paired with a sold out Release Party as well as opening for SaRoc an Atlanta based artist signed to Rhymesayers Entertainment the following June.
questions?
reach out!
Dana Beeler
Events & Strategic Development Manager
dana@musicnovascotia.ca