National Arts Centre’s Atlantic Scene offers a career boost to East Coast artists
April 17, 2003 -
Ottawa (Ontario) -- The National Arts Centre (NAC) today announced that established and emeging artists performing in its upcoming Atlantic Scene festival will have the opportunity to make contact with up to 45 talent scouts in the cultural industry from across Europe and North America. These individuals are key players in festivals, theatres, record companies, arts publications, showcase organizations and booking agencies and have the power to make a major difference in an artist's career.
The National Arts Centre’s Atlantic Scene is the first in a series of biennial regional festivals to take place in the nation’s capital, which will showcase the best in Canadian arts and culture from coast to coast. Four hundred established and emerging artists from the East Coast will take part in 85 events ranging from theatre, visual arts, film, comedy and literature, to Celtic, Acadian, pop and classical music – and even culinary arts.
The NAC is partnering with both the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), to bring artistic talent scouts to Ottawa to view the performances and interact with performers at seminars and social events. The aim is to provide the artists and their representatives with opportunities to meet talent scouts, benefit from their knowledge, and establish a basis for future collaboration.
“The NAC’s goal is not only to celebrate the wonderfully diverse talent that the Atlantic region has produced, but also to support the career development of those artists,” said Peter Herrndorf, President and CEO of the NAC. “We are pleased to serve as a catalyst, helping bring together the many partners and players involved in staging a festival of this magnitude.”
Claire Marson, Head of the Performing Arts branch for DFAIT’s Arts and Cultural Industries Promotion Division added: “We are pleased to be able to help artists from Atlantic Canada increase their profile around the world through this exceptional festival in Ottawa. Talent scouts are coming from as far away as France, Germany, England and California.”
Presenters will each spend an average of three days attending performances and interacting with performers. Some of the industry names attending include Paul Benjamin, owner of the North Atlantic Blues record label and promoter of the award-winning North Atlantic Blues Festival in Maine; Natalie Bernardin, Artistic Director of Winnipeg’s Festival du Voyageur, the largest winter festival in Western Canada; German-based Michael Bisping, whose agency stages about 1,000 shows annually; British music promoter Colin Jennings, who has worked with well-known artists such as Prince and LeAnn Rimes; Larry LeBlanc of Billboard Magazine; and Universal Music representative Ted Seto.
The participants in the Atlantic Scene Presenters Program were carefully screened and selected in consultation with the managers and agents of Atlantic Scene artists, with substantial assistance from Canadian Cultural Officers in the United States and Europe.
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
Other than DFAIT and ACOA, Atlantic Scene partners include the Government of Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Governments of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well at the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership. Media and corporate sponsors include CBC-Radio Canada, the National Post, Transcontinental Media, the Ottawa Citizen, Le Droit, Rogers Television 22, Alexander Keith’s, Clearwater Fine Foods Inc., VIA Rail Canada, Eastlink, Universal Music, The Shaw Group, Delta Hotels, Ramada Hotel & Suites Ottawa, The Aristocrat Hotel and EMI Music Canada. Philanthropists Margaret and David Fountain, The Craig Foundation, The Donald R. Sobey Foundation and Purdy Crawford have also provided important financial support.
For the full Atlantic Scene lineup, show times and complete ticket information, please visit www.atlanticscene.ca.
