About
Boxwood presents multi-day festivals worldwide celebrating and sharing folk and art music traditions. Our focus is on hands-on, immersive programs that invite a multi-generational community of audiences, musicians, dancers and singers to experience and discover the fire that connects communities and traditions. The richness and immense fun of our festivals have changed lives, inspired, astounded, and challenged folks around the world for more than three decades.
The Boxwood Festival Society is a non-profit organization based in Nova Scotia, Canada that aims to provide opportunities for the dissemination, sharing, presentation and celebration of traditional music. Since 1995 Boxwood has fulfilled this mission with programs rich with hands-on, in-depth experiences. We present festivals, educational outreach, concerts, and a variety of media including sound, video and the web.
Boxwood’s philosophy centers on helping individuals achieve their artistic potential and building stronger communities in the process. An emphasis on the historical roots of traditional music and its connections to dance and language give our programs a depth and richness that bridge numerous genres and styles. Boxwood’s programming seeks to present a multi-cultural mix, highlighting points of contact to enrich and challenge a multi-generational community.
The musical styles presented at Boxwood include those which have been traditionally passed along as a part of the oral tradition: the folk music of Maritime Canada with its connections to Scotland, Ireland, Cape Breton, Quebec, New England, old-time, Breton, Galician, Cuban Charanga, First Nations, Hip-Hop, and classical Indian. Audiences have also been invited to try improvisatory, learned-by-ear elements of classical styles including renaissance, baroque and some contemporary music. In short, Boxwood aims to present the music and ideas that encourage musicians to leave the printed page to find their own musical voice.
Boxwood has presented festivals in Canada, The United States, Europe, Asia and the Antipodes. This work has been recognized and supported by governments, organizations and individuals worldwide including: Culture Ireland, Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, The Canadian Chancellery of Honours, The Senate of Canada, The Nova Scotia Parliament House of Assembly, Llloyd Carr Harris Foundation, CBC Radio Canada, Town of Barga (Italy), Creative New Zealand, Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust (NZ), College of William and Mary (USA), University of Wisconsin (USA), Taichung University (TW), The Highland Trust (UK) and many more.
Boxwood’s director, Chris Norman was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. The Senate of Dalhousie University awarded Chris a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa in 2015 in recognition of his artistic achievements and contributions to the community.
Director: Chris Norman
Board: Karl Sumwalt, Susan Lawlor, Shelley Mann, Debbie Pearson.
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