Nova Scotia has long been famous for its breathtaking vistas, record-breaking schooners and mouth-watering seafood. Another claim to fame is our rich tradition of music which in the 1990s is taking the world by storm.
Traditional Scottish strathpeys, toe-tapping Acadian jigs, inspirational gospel hymns, or blistering Celtic rock - our music expresses who we are. It’s seen us through hard times (in 1956, men trapped in the Springhill mine for eight days without food or water survived on "songs and hope instead") and it’s helped us celebrate the good times. Nova Scotians have always loved their music, and now, it seems, so does the world. Recognition of our rich musical heritage is not entirely new. In the 1940s, contralto Portia White won rave reviews in New York opera circles. In the 1960s, Denny Doherty became part of the pop phenomenon, the Mamas and the Papas. In the 1970s, Anne Murray rocketed to international stardom. And in the 1980s, Rita MacNeil went from local attraction to national treasure.
In the last ten years, though, more Nova Scotian musicians than ever have found themselves on the world stage. Halifax’s vibrant alternative music scene has spawned bands like Sloan and jale and prompted Harper’s Bazaar to label the capital "the very anatomy of a hip city'. The Nova Scotia Mass Choir wowed the gospel world at the 30th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March on Washington. New York composer Phillip Glass discovered Ashley MacIsaac fiddling at a Cape Breton ceilidh, and soon whisked the teenage prodigy off to sold-out houses at Carnegie Hall. And, of course, the Rankin Family regularly brings Celtic rhythms and Gaelic lyrics to the hit parade.
But these are just a few of our better-known artists. Towns and villages throughout Nova Scotia ring with the sound of music all year long. There are country singers hoping to be the next Hank Snow or Carole Baker. Classical musicians performing at the international Scotia Festival of Music. Bagpipers "kirking the tartans" at a country church. Or just party-goers launching into a spontaneous tune or two around the kitchen table. In Nova Scotia, music is everywhere.
Celebrate our Music throughout Nova Scotia...