The Nova Scotia Choral Federation is thrilled to announce the return of the Nova Scotia Youth Choir (NSYC) in 2025. This enriched provincial choral program for singers ages 16-25, provides the the opportunity to work with a faculty of experienced and professional musicians dedicated to excellence in vocal performance and musicianship. This program provides a challenging opportunity to work, develop and perform choral music together at a very high calibre. At the same time, singers have an opportunity to meet other singers across the province – a chance to meet other like minded colleagues and friends.
Artistic Faculty 2025! (Scroll down to get to know them!)
Additional workshops and voice faculty TBA.
Scott Leithead – Guest Conductor
Andrew Cranston and Amelia McMahon – Resident Conductors
Adam Johnson – Collaborative Pianist
Dr. Julia Davids & the Canadian Chamber Choir – Special Workshop at Camp!
What have choristers said about participation in NSYC?
“My first year with the Nova Scotia Youth Choir I was 15 and had been in an auditioned choir for 3 years. In that first year I was able to sing in an SATB choir for the first time, sing in 7 different languages, and work with highly dedicated older singers, and amazing resident conductors and the guest conductor at the final weekend. That experience fundamentally changed my life and led me to rejoin year after year, find new high calibre choirs in my area, and even participate in the National Youth Choir of Canada this year. Though this was my last year, it was a great one. I am so grateful to have been around to see the younger choristers get the program back up and running, and to help breathe life back into the young choral community”. – NSYC alumnus and Louise Simons Scholarship recipient
“The NSYC was an experience of growing, facing challenges, and most importantly of creating, no longer as an individual, but as part of a team. With direction and guidance from the directors and accompanists, and support from my peers, the NSYC changed from singing with a group of strangers into making great music with my friends in only a few rehearsals. The final product was truly spectacular, and something which every member of the choir will not soon forget.” – NSYC Alumnus 2008-2010
What have our audiences said?
“There is so much turmoil and strife in the world and so much lack of respect and caring for people. An event like this evening gives you hope in the future. Gives you hope that the experiences and community through music making at this level will add so much to the world through these young people.” Thanks to the NSCF for continuing this great programme. – NSYC 2024 concert audience member
The NSYC Schedule
Choristers work with Residential Conductors and Guest Faculty during two rehearsal periods in June and August. These weekends are when singers learn the program repertoire, share their knowledge and experience, and build relationships with other NSYC singers. They will include full rehearsals, pull out voice lessons, and workshops with guest vocal artists. Rehearsal weekends are intense but also filled with fun and comradery.
Final rehearsals will be led by the Guest Conductor and will culminate in three performances in a concert tour at the end of the September rehearsal weekend. It’s an exciting event anticipated by our whole community where singers share the results of their hard work and commitment.
Rehearsal Weekends:
June 6 – 8, 2025 – Halifax
August 7-10, 2025 – Berwick (Camp Weekend)
September 18-21, 2025 – New Glasgow with Concerts in New Glasgow, Truro, and Halifax
Singers must be able to commit to attendance at all rehearsal weekends for the program. If a singer has a conflict, it MUST be communicated with the NSCF team well in advance so that the artistic team can plan appropriately.
**It is also expected that all singers prepare their music in advance of the first weekend, and to come to August Camp with all notes/rhythms/text in place, with any memory work or other assignments given by the conductors, completed.
Register for NSYC!
February 1-April 1, 2025: Online Registration. Choristers may register on their own (with a choral director or music teacher reference – please provide their contact information and we will contact them with the reference form). Singers may also be recommended by their music teacher or choir director. Send us your singers!
Voice Placement: As part of the registration process, in lieu of a formal audition, singers will be sent a couple of vocal exercises to sing, record and send back to us.
Singers will be contacted to confirm their placement in NSYC by the end of April 2025. Music will be provided in advance of the first rehearsal so singers may begin working on repertoire. The fun begins!
Program Cost: $400 – Financial Assistance in the form of bursaries and scholarships. See below.
Registration Includes: Tuition for 10 full days (50+hours) of instruction in rehearsals, workshops, activities, private voice lessons; Music rental and materials; T-shirt (casual uniform); All site fees, accommodations and meals at camp (4 days); Snacks at rehearsals; Suppers on final weekend; Bus for concert tour. (Please note that this cost is highly subsidized by volunteers and generous funders!)
Financial Assistance Programs:
Youth Fund Bursary: Available for singers between the ages of 16-18, and are fully registered in NSYC.
Professional Development Assistance: Singers over the age of 18 may apply for Professional Development Assistance from Nova Scotia Choral Federation.
Louise Simons Scholarship for Section Leaders:
Louise Simons, the Choral Federation’s “mother hen”, was instrumental in the formation of the Nova Scotia Youth Choir, originally the Rotary Youth Choir, 25 years ago. As a choral singer (with Nova Scotia Symphony Chorus, Halifax Camerata Singers, Middleton Choral Society and King’s Chorale), an educator (West Kings High School) and a constant presence at the Nova Scotia Choral Federation summer camps for junior, youth and adult singers, Louise wanted singers finishing high school and beginning university to have access to an auditioned provincial choir to keep up their choral education, to provide further challenge, and to keep them singing. She knew our youth should be given a chance to work with Canada’s best conductors. With her steady vision and her creative mind, the choir gradually took flight and was fine-tuned into the exceptional choir it is today. Her enthusiasm, her belief in the importance of singing, her loyalty to the choral community in Nova Scotia, her mentorship and her unfailing energy continues to inspire singers and audiences alike, and we feel her presence so strongly every year when we gather together. We are very pleased to honour her now with the Louise Simons Memorial Scholarship which supports four singers in the choir each year. The scholarship covers their tuition and offers them important leadership opportunities within the choir.
Note: If you are planning to apply to be a Louise Simons Scholar, please submit your application (found below) at the same time as your registration form.
Payment:
The fee for NSYC is $400. A deposit of $100, or full payment, is due at time of registration. Full payment must be received no later than June 6, 2025.
Option 1: Send an e-transfer to nscfadmin@nscf.ca. Please use the security answer NSYC2025 for e-transfer payments and include the singers name in the comments
Option 2: Contact the NSCF office at 902-423-4688 with credit card information.
Option 3: Payment may be made via Stripe using buttons below (please note that a service fee applies):
NSYC Artistic Team 2025
NSYC 2025 Guest Conductor – Scott Leithead
“I’ve been lucky enough to be part of many NSCF programs over the years, and I’m excited to be conducting NSYC again! These programs are wonderful – not just for the inspiring music, but also for the learning, the friendships and the memories created. It’s touching to see how music and these programs enrich all those involved – I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Scott Leithead is the founder and Artistic Director of Edmonton’s KororaChoir Association and TIME Association. He has been invited to conduct provincial and state honour choirs on twenty-eight occasions and he has presented workshops in North America and beyond. Notable appearances include: adjudicating the Tampere International Festival in Finland; conducting the 2013, 2015-2019 Ellison Canadian Honour Choir; and headlining the 2017 University of Toronto Summer Conducting Symposium. He has adjudicated both the ACCC National Competition for Amateur Canadian Choirs and the Kathaumixw International Choir Festival (2014, 2016, 2023). Under his direction, Kokopelli was the winner of both the 2015 CBC National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs and both the 2015 and 2016 Canadian National Music Competition. In the summer of 2019, Kokopelli was invited to perform at the IFCM World Choral Expo in Portugal, where they represented Canada on the world stage. Also in 2019, Kokopelli was featured on an episode of CTV’s “The Amazing Race Canada”.
Scott has a passion for music from southern Africa, and he has been invited to work with choirs in South Africa and Namibia on numerous occasions. In 2008–2009, Scott was on sabbatical in Namibia, where he worked with the Mascato Youth Choir and many other choirs in southern Africa. Scott’s passion for innovative and unique choral music experiences has shaped the direction of the Kokopelli Choir Association. In February 2023 he will conduct the ISSEA Mass Choir in Johannesburg South Africa featuring international schools from across the African continent.
Scott is a longtime member of the advisory committee for the Canadian Rocky Mountain Music Festival. He is also past president of the Braille Tone Music Society and three additional national boards in Canada, as well as the National Youth Music and Art Development Foundation of South Africa. Scott was awarded Choir Alberta’s top honour, the Richard S. Eaton Award, in 2015. He also received Edmonton’s Salute to Excellence award in 2016. He has also been awarded the Syncrude Award for Innovative Direction.
Resident Conductors 2025:
Amelia McMahon
“Much of my life has been shaped by the programs offered through the NSCF from the career choices I have made to my friend community. As an alumni of NSYC myself, I am so excited to be a part of this generation’s joy for choral singing. The chance to build relationships with like minded youth from all over the province and to create something amazing together in the process will be extremely special.”
Amelia McMahon (she / her / elle) grew up in the Annapolis Valley and recently returned to Nova Scotia after making her home in Montreal for 21 years. She is the Artistic Director of the South Shore Chorale Society, Co-Principal Conductor of Eastern Horizon, Assistant Conductor of The Halifax Camerata Singers, Conductor of the LeMarchant – St Thomas Elementary School Choir and is on the vocal and choral faculties at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. She regularly sings at St. George’s Round Church, with East Coast Carolling, has had roles in two operas produced by Vocalypse, and is excited to be a member of the new vocal jazz quartet, Canvas. Mentored throughout her career by Maestro Iwan Edwards, Amelia studied choral conducting at Université de Sherbrooke and holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Voice from McGill University.
Photo Credit: Luke Fraser
Andrew Cranston
“The NSCF has been responsible for an incredible amount of my professional development as well as fostering relationships that have lasted for decades, and I am also grateful for my experience singing with the NSYC when it was directed by Scott Leithead. Giving back to this program is truly an honour and privilege, and the NSYC is absolutely crucial for the continued development of life long singers in Nova Scotia.”
Andrew Cranston (he / him) is a choral conductor, vocal coach and clinician working primarily in the Annapolis Valley. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Middleton Choral Society and the CONDUIT Chamber Choir, and is currently serving as Vice President of the Nova Scotia Choral Federation.
Andrew received a Masters in Choral Conducting from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, studying under Doug Dunsmore, Kellie Walsh, Don Buell and Mark David. While living in Newfoundland for 16 years, Andrew co-founded the Coastal Sounds Choir Association where he served as the Artistic Director of the Coastal Sounds Community Choir and the Aurora Women’s Choir. He also served as Conductor for the Anchormen Barbershop Chorus, Music Director for Topsail United Church, and as an Assistant Conductor for the Quintessential Vocal Ensemble which he conducted in Carnegie Hall in 2014.
Andrew has also sung with many choirs in Atlantic Canada, including the Halifax Camerata Singers, the Cantus Vocum Chamber Choir, the Philharmonic Choir of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and Nova Voce, where he also served as an Assistant Conductor.
Photo Credit: Jay McCurdy
NSYC Accompanist – Adam Johnson
Adam Johnson is a musician and educator from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. He is the organist and choir director at Port Wallis United Church, and the middle school music teacher at Halifax Independent School. He plays piano in a variety of groups in Halifax, in popular, jazz, and choral idioms. Adam directs the Club Inclusion Choir, a musical group open to people of all challenges and abilities, and accompanies the choirs Spira and Polaris of the Choirs for Change organization. He holds degrees from Bishop’s University (BA Hons piano), the University of Miami (MM Choral Conducting) and Memorial University (BMusEd). Adam enjoys arranging and composing for choir.