| Formation | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 100 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,  Canada |
| Website | https://theansma.com |
African Nova Scotian Music Association (ANSMA) is a non-profit organization purposed towards supporting African Nova Scotians in the music industry.
In 1997, the African Nova Scotian Music Association was established in Nova Scotia, Canada. [1]
Nearly 50 people belonged to ANSMA by February 1999, and the organization was represented on the board of the East Coast Music Association. [2]
The first president of the association was Marc Perry. Lou Gannon was appointed president in 2003, six years after the organization's founding, and served until 2023. [3]
The ANSMA hosts the annual African Nova Scotian Music Association Awards. ANSMA held its first awards ceremony in November 1998. [4]
The categories for awards show include Emerging Artist of the Year, Rising Star of the Year, Artist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Album/EP of the Year. [5] Other awards include the Heritage Award, Pioneer Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Industry Development Award, and the Portia White Youth Award. [6]
The African Nova Scotia Music Association presents a Lifetime Achievement Award to one individual each year during the association's annual award ceremony. The award is given to a musician or group that has impacted the African Nova Scotian music scene.
George Elliott Clarke is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015, and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known for its use of a wide range of literary and artistic traditions, as well as its physicality and political substance. Clarke is also known for chronicling the experience and history of the Black Canadian communities of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, creating a cultural geography that he has coined "Africadia."
Portia May White was a Canadian contralto, known for becoming the first Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame. Growing up as part of her father's church choir in Halifax, Nova Scotia, White competed in local singing competitions as a teenager and later trained at the Halifax Conservatory of Music. In 1941 and 1944, she made her national and international debuts as a singer, receiving critical acclaim for her performances of both classical European music and African-American spirituals. White later completed tours throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
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The Portia White Prize is the largest prize of its type awarded by the Province of Nova Scotia and is named for Portia White, a Nova Scotian artist who rose through adversity to achieve international acclaim as a classical singer on the stages of Europe and North America. Although Portia White began her career teaching in Africville, she eventually turned her energy to developing her enormous musical talent. Portia White became a world-renowned contralto through much hard work and dedication and the financial support of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, a charitable organization created in 1944 by the Halifax Ladies Music Club, the music community and the Province. Upon retiring from the stage, Ms. White devoted her time to teaching and coaching young singers. Her achievements continue to instill a sense of pride in the African Nova Scotian community and stand as a model to all Nova Scotians.
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The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) is a non-profit association purposed towards supporting the music industry in the Canadian east coast, i.e., Atlantic Canada. The ECMA hosts the annual East Coast Music Awards festival.
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