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2024 Truro Musical Festival

Welcome to the 2024 Truro Music Festival! The board has been very busy over the last few months. We have made numerous changes to our syllabus, mainly to make all classes gender neutral. You will see these changes reflected in the syllabus.

Like most organizations, the pandemic has resulted in our festival looking different too. Registration numbers have not recovered to the levels they were pre-pandemic, while the cost to run the festival is relatively fixed. To remain fiscally responsible, the Board has deemed it necessary to increase registration fees, and to look at the awards that the festival itself funds. Some have been removed, some have been reduced, while newly donor supported awards have been created. These changes should allow us to continue to host the Truro Music Festival for many more years to come!

About the Festival: More Than a 100-Year Tradition!

The Truro Music Festival was founded in 1922 by Professor Harry Wellard. Prof. Wellard, organist at several Truro churches, taught music at the Nova Scotia Provincial Normal College. As the Supervisor of Music in Colchester County schools, Wellard was particularly interested in fostering its role in childhood education and development. His many achievements continue to be honoured 100 years later with the annual Festival. Instrumental in assisting Wellard in the very first festival were Margaret MacLean and Lois Richardson.

In the beginning, the Festival was only for schools and known as the Truro Choral Society Music Competition. Taking place on a single Saturday in May in the old Colchester County Academy, the competition was initially for town schools. It quickly grew to include county schools and today includes musicians from beyond the Truro area. Competition classes have also expanded with Musical Theatre, Monologues, Recitations, Jazz/Blues, Voice, Piano, Band, and Choir classes making up the syllabus. Using 4 different venues, the Festival holds classes from early March to late April, with an awards concert for Musical Theatre and a closing awards concert for the remaining disciplines. Bravo to Dr. Wellard and the many others who followed for their dedicated volunteer efforts in making the Truro Musical Festival a time-honoured tradition.

In 2022 we were proud to celebrate our 100th Anniversary! Leading up to our anniversary, we participated in a project to document the last 25 years of the Truro Music Festival resulting in the book “More Joyful Noise 1997-2022”. We also celebrated the anniversary at our 2022 Closing Awards Ceremony with a reception and book launch. For more about the anniversary and book launch, visit our 100th Anniversary page.

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