A’COURT PRESENTS STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP DURING MINISTER’S AWARDS

Halifax, NS – Graduating high school students, members of the various arts communities, the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Zach Churchill and touring musician Charlie A’Court all gathered at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia on June 13 during the inaugural presentation of the Minister’s Awards for Creative Excellence in the Arts.

As part of the ceremony, A’Court was on hand to announce the 2018 recipient of the Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music (CASEM). Hayley MacGregor, a classically trained vocalist from North Nova Education Centre in Pictou County, was presented the award and $500 towards her music education. MacGregor has been accepted into the Bachelor of Music program at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. Hayley, who also performed a rendition of Hugo Wolf’s signature composition Verbourgenheit at the ceremony, aspires to become a professor of music.

“Hayley is a tremendous student with a strong voice. Her dedication to honing her vocal abilities and crafting her artistry is obvious the moment she begins to sing. I’m very proud that CASEM can be offered to someone with her creative talent,” offers A’Court.

CASEM has been incorporated into the suite of awards offered by Minister Churchill’s department, celebrating arts creation and arts education in Nova Scotia. This is the first year CASEM has been offered to high school students province-wide.

Charlie A’Court has partnered with the 2018 Special Olympics National Summer Games to write and record a theme song celebrating the human spirit.

Let Me Win (Special Olympics Music Video)

by Charlie A’Court

Recorded at Juno-award winning artist, Joel Plaskett’s New Scotland Yard Studio in Dartmouth, NS, the song was produced by acclaimed producer, Chris Kirby. Accompanied by a choir of athletes, Let Me Win sings a song of hope and determination and what can be accomplished when we all come together.

A’Court explains, “Recording this song was such a joy. The athletes representing Nova Scotia are so dedicated and they really brought energy and inspiration to the studio. Together, we recorded a song that reflects their strength and spirit.”

The song is being used as the theme for the 2018 Special Olympics National Summer Games being held from July 31 to August 4 in Antigonish, NS.

For more information on the games, please visit http://so2018.specialolympicsns.ca/.

A’COURT PARTNERS WITH PROVINCE TO EXPAND MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP

Halifax, NS –  Nova Scotian musician, Charlie A’Court, has partnered with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to expand the Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music province wide.

CASEM, launched by A’Court in 2017, has been incorporated into a suite of awards offered by the province as the Minister’s Awards for Creative Excellence in the Arts.

“Collaborating with the province on this allows me to offer CASEM to Grade 12 students from one of the province to the other. With the department’s infrastructure already in place to facilitate a larger application process, it really is a win-win, and I’m very excited to see the up-take by high school graduates,” explained A’Court.

Grade 12 students from across Nova Scotia planning to pursue post-secondary studies in creative arts are encouraged to apply for one of the four scholarships offered in the Minister’s Awards for Creative Excellence in the Arts.

The suite includes The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts ($1000), Excellence in Performing Arts ($1000), Excellence in Digital Media ($1000), and the Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music ($500 and a mentor opportunity with Charlie A’Court).

“Nova Scotia has always been admired and respected globally for its outstanding musical heritage. The vision of this award is to help nurture that next generation of world-caliber musicianship.”

Up to 15 applicants will also be selected to receive $100. The deadline to apply is April 23. For more information on criteria and how to apply, visit http://www.novascotia.ca/creativeaward.

Award-winning Canadian artist Charlie A’Court is no stranger to Australian audiences, his 2018 tour will be his eighth visit in seven years, and over that time he’s spread his soulful take on the blues, clear-as-a-bell vocals, and searing guitar work far and wide.

A’Court has performed at some of Australia’s top festivals, including Woodford Folk Festival, Gympie Music Musterand last year’s Blues on Broadbeach event. He’s supported the likes of UB40 around the country and worked with some outstanding Aussie musos including icon Diesel, who produced his most recent release ‘Come On Over, and Lloyd Spiegel, with whom A’Court co-wrote his latest single ‘Refuse to Fear’.

Over the last year, A’Court has enjoyed a number of co-writes released by other Canadian artists including the southern soul ballad ‘Love & Insanity’ on Mike Biggar’s ‘Go All In’, and the scorching guitar driven ‘Can’t Stop The Clock’ by rock guitarist Christine Campbell. Offstage, A’Court has also launched a bursary called the ‘Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music’ for high school graduates and also created a program called Stringathon (www.stringathon.ca), where A’Court collects new and unused guitar strings and donates them to music classes in local schools.

In 2018 Charlie will be back at Blues on Broadbeach by popular demand, and this February A’Court and his band will take on The Bruthen Blues Festival and a bunch of club shows up and down the east coast.

Ticket info can be found on the Tour Dates page.

JUST ANNOUNCED!

The 15th anniversary celebration for Color Me Gone, the debut release from A’Court, continues as the first show has sold out and a second show has been added.

Color Me Gone: A’Coustically Revisted (Nov 16, 2017) has sold out The Carleton in Halifax and tickets for a second show are now available.

A’Court and his ensemble will be performing his entire debut album, released in 2002, acoustically reimagined.

Advance tickets are available by clicking here.

Charlie A’Court announced today the first-ever recipient of the newly formed Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music (CASEM).

“It is with great excitement to announce high school graduating student, Noah Hartlen as the inaugural recipient of the Charlie A’Court Scholarship for Excellence in Music,” says A’Court. “Noah displays a high calibre of musicianship for his age and his academic discipline has earned him a spot in the Bachelor of Music program at Acadia University.”

Hartlen, a trumpet player, is graduating from Cobequid Educational Centre in Truro after having earned top honours in Music and he also sat as president of the CEC Band Executive during his entire high-school career. Outside the many band projects Hartlen was a part of, the Truro-native also performed as lead trumpeter in the Nova Scotia Youth Wind Ensemble and Nova Scotia Honour Jazz. Noah presently plays principle trumpet in the prestigious Denis Wick Canadian Wind Orchestra, one of the premier honour band programs in Canada.

A’Court is thoroughly taken by the level of musical prowess and academic skill of all the applicants for the scholarship’s first year. “It takes conviction and devotion to balance out the responsibilities of these students on and off the stage and I was seriously impressed by this group of students,” A’Court explains. “Though only one recipient can be selected, all the applicants can be truly proud of their success to this point.”

CASEM and A’Court himself will be on hand to congratulate and present the $500 (CDN) award to Hartlen at CEC’s graduating ceremony this Thursday evening in Truro. The 2017 CEC Graduation Ceremony will be steaming live June 29th at 7:30PM on the CEC website.

To mark the 20th anniversary since A’Court graduated from CEC, the high school was specifically gifted the scholarship for its inaugural year, but A’Court has plans to expanded the scholarship province-wide next year.