Each mentorship spans 4 weeks with with industry professionals with paid performing opportunities.
>>Multi-disciplinary Artists Apply Here<<
JRDN
Toronto-based Scotian born R&B sensation JRDN is back from a hiatus with a new sound and energy in his music. While away JRDN continued to work closely with Sebastian Kole (writer) Jazz Feezy (producer) Jenson Vaughn (writer) on new music that will show the growth of his artistry. His 2010 breakthrough album, IAMJRDN yielded Gold singles ‘U Can Have It All’ and ‘Like Magic”. “Like Magic” received the 2012 SOCAN Urban Music Award, and went to #1 on the Much and MuchMore Music video charts. IAMJRDN also garnered him 2 nominations for New Artist of the Year and R&B/ Soul Recording of the Year at the 2012 JUNO Awards. JRDN won the prestigious 2014 JUNO award for R&B/Soul recording of the year for his hit single “Can’t Choose” featuring Kardinal Offishall. In 2019 JRDN resurfaced releasing two projects titled Supply And Demand as well as Bristol Place, capturing a more youthful sound that relates to today’s R&B audience. 2021 was a full year of music for JRDN as he released numerous projects including his long awaited album RALPH, released March 26th 2021. JRDN’s newest single Missing Us is explains the emotion of letting that one get away and not really coming to terms with the fact that the relationship will never be the same. March 3rd 2022 JRDN released the Dub J produced single “Time” which charted #1 on iTunes for R&B. In May of 2022 JRDN released a experimental collaboration with producer Josh Grant. The Red Eye EP is a smooth lo-fi experience mixed with some soulful jazz samples that accompany JRDN’s sultry voice.
Donny Milwalkee
Music director Donny Milwalkee has built a reputation for shaking the status quo. As a drummer, arranger, producer, performance trainer, and vocal coach, he is known for creating projects that shape culture. From building Toronto’s scene of live hip-hop cyphers and artist showcasing (100+ artists), to elite music education, to owning a live music venue and recording studio, and working with event producers to innovate concert experiences, each aspect receives treatment. Donny Milwalkee moves to create culture and community. This is through his showcasing band (The Dirty B-Sides), trap-jazz collective (game.set.trap), soca band (Yard Lime), and years of curation and collaboration for concerts, festivals, and events. He also owned and operated a lowcountry restaurant and live R&B music venue, recording studio, not-for-profit music school, and more. After moving to Halifax, he established a New Orleans streetbeat brass band (Fat Sundays), a developing showcasing band (The Dirty Seasides), and various other events. He currently works supporting the African Nova Scotian Music Association ushering in new ideas, initiatives, and programming to guide new pathways for community with expansion throughout Atlantic Canada.
I’thandi Munro
I’thandi Munro is an award winning professional performance and visual artist. She has a BFA from NSCAD and movement is at her core of making. Munro uses the representation of line and lineage as underlying concepts in her fine art, craft, photography and dance. Continuously merging different mediums into finished pieces there is always a sense of multiplicity within her work, she leaves space for her pieces to naturally evolve through reaction and discussion. Munro creates an ever-changing body of work that can be explored and realized in different ways
Tempo
Known professionally as Tempo, Jordan is a multifaceted creative entrepreneur with roots both in Ontario and Nova Scotia. Starting as a dancer, Jordan worked with Concrete Roots and Unity Charity, developing a strong sense of community. Equipped with a thorough understanding and connection to music, this fuelled the need to take control of the very language that influenced his movement, ultimately resulting in the transition to production. Making the jump to music, the 2019 HopScotch All Styles winner has since dedicated his craft to becoming more involved in projects advocating for racial equality and artistic freedom throughout the Province.
Andre Fenton
Andre Fenton is an award-winning African Nova Scotian writer, author, spoken-word artist, and arts educator who has represented Halifax at seven national poetry festivals across Canada. He was the 2015 recipient of The Spirit of The Slam Award. Andre is an author of two YA novels, Worthy of Love, which won bronze in The Coast Best of, and was selected for In The Margins annual Fiction Recommendation List to highlight best fiction and non-fiction titles focused on youth populations living in marginalized existences. He is also the author of ANNAKA that was shortlisted for the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature in the 2021 Atlantic Book Awards. Through the lens of fiction and poetry, Andre has facilitated workshops at over 30 schools across Nova Scotia helping young writers and performers develop their craft. His forthcoming novel, The Summer Between Us, will be released this spring, and he is working on a feature screenplay. Andre is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Meg Hubley
Meg Hubley is a writer/producer/director and mother from Kjipuktuk. Their plays and collaborations include EcoSystemEchoChamber co-written with Delilah Saunders (Halifax Theatre for Young People), Honey&Jupiter (H&J Collective/EDNS), and TreeGirl (Forerunner/Eastern Front), shortlisted for best theatre production by readers of The Coast. Meg received the 2017 Theatre Nova Scotia Emerging Artist Award, and their theatre reviews have been published locally and nationally, including The Globe & Mail. Meg is co-founder of The Bus Stop Theatre Writers’ Circle and Phyllis Rising Productions. In 2020 with Phyllis Rising co-founders Rebecca Falvey, Kat Shubaly and Nicole Cecile Holland, Meg produced their first short film “The Agnostics,” through the AFCOOP Film Five program.
Justin David
Justin David grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and moved to Toronto at the age of 19 to pursue his career in dance. In his youth, Justin began as a self-taught dancer and was the captain of his high school dance team. Demonstrating drive and passion, he was pushed into the leadership role where his natural ability to choreograph and stage fellow students was discovered. Over the past 13 years, Justin has been working with the top professionals in the entertainment industry, including renowned choreographers throughout Canada and the United States. His training includes hip hop, African, stepping, street jazz, Caribbean, and South American styles of dance. As a multidisciplinary creative, Justin has been fortunate to lend his skills as an instructor and choreographer all over Canada. He has choreographed live shows, music videos, and is currently working behind the camera as a Creative Director with his company 20x20media. Most recently, he has begun working as an editor on short-form video content. Justin has worked as an instructor throughout his dance career, teaching students ranging from ages 5 to 50. In 2019, he was a resident instructor of the dance program at Seneca College. Justin’s upbeat and high-energy dance style has pushed him to succeed in his own career while helping guide his students along in their own training.
StART is supported by Arts Nova Scotia and the Canada Council for the Arts
