Crescendo Fest: A Black Music Festival and Conference where people gather for music, entertainment, networking, empowerment, and culture.
The event will take place in Halifax and will span two days of activities including a conference, celebrity interview, a free public concert at Parade Square, and the Crescendo Fest Wrap party featuring local DJs.
We caught up with the lead organizer behind Crescendo Fest, North Preston, NS’s Micah Smith for a quick chat.
Hi Micah. Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Micah Smith, from the beautiful community of North Preston. Music has always been an important part of my personal and professional life. I am very involved with my church where music is a prominent part of our culture. I regularly perform as a background vocalist with my cousin Reeny Smith, Matt Andersen, and Joel Plaskett. In 2022, I became the MNS Investment Program Community Liaison where it is my responsibility to help individuals from underrepresented and underserved communities obtain funding for their projects.
You are the founder of the new Black Music Festival, Crescendo Fest in Halifax, NS. Tell us a bit about how the festival came to be.
During my years as a performer, I’ve noticed the lack of support for African Nova Scotian/ Black Artists here in Nova Scotia in many areas – from artist development to showcases, to public performance opportunities. Working with Music Nova Scotia and learning more about the industry side of things, has further magnified these issues for me. I’ve been blessed with many opportunities – in addition to performing with Reeny, Matt, and Joel, I’ve also opened for Anderson Paak and sang BGVs for Michael Buble. I know so many Black Artists from not only Nova Scotia but across Atlantic Canada who deserve these same opportunities, and I want to help them achieve their goals and take their careers to the next level by creating opportunities for them and making sure they have access to the knowledge necessary to do that.
I was inspired during the 2022 ECMA’s week in Fredericton. Once I returned home I called my sister Kayla, and cousins JR, Reeny, and Hailey Smith and I recall saying “I have a crazy idea… What do you think about a Black Music Festival? Speakers who look like us, and can relate to our stories educating us on topics we want to know about, showcase opportunities, etc.” They thought it was a great idea. Then I reached out to Sheri Jones and had the same conversation with her and we dove in. That was in November. Along with anything great, come many challenges and obstacles. Due to City budgets and funding criteria, it wasn’t until February that we could really get to work. It’s been a crazy busy few months but things are on-track for the first Crescendo Fest thanks in large part to the support we’ve received from the community, funders, media, and private individuals. I can’t tell you how excited I am about the opportunities this will provide to the Black music community.
The festival objectives are education, networking, performance, and black business support. Let’s talk a bit about the education you hope to involve in the festival. What types of workshops will be available?
We will kick off our conference day with a Mindset Workshop for empowered decision-making, embracing growth, and time mastery. That will set the tone for the day and we will then move into our sessions – which focus on Exporting. The Creative Collaboration Panel will speak to the possibilities of exporting music through creative collaborations which plays a huge part in the longevity and success of artist careers. The Exporting: The Bigger Picture session will consist of an in-depth panel discussion and extensive Q&A on how to approach exporting beyond the east coast of Canada. it will investigate the many paths to exporting from the perspective of live performance, label/distribution, management, publishing, PR, and more. On Saturday afternoon we are hosting an interview with Canadian Hip-Hop Pioneer Michie Mee who will tell us about her journey and how she has achieved success.
When it comes to the performance aspect, what criteria is involved in choosing the festival performers at Crescendo Fest?
Because this is our first year and time was short we worked to put together a diverse line-up of outstanding talent that would appeal to our local audience. There is so much great music that it was particularly difficult to choose just two Atlantic Canadian artists. In the future, there will be a formal submission and selection process. The criteria will take into consideration things like performance history, achievements, where an artist is in their career, and geographic representation. There is so much talent here that I think, even with an expanded program, it will always be a difficult task.
You’ve unveiled the lineup, including Reeny Smith, Michie Mee, and more. Given the full lineup, use 5 words to describe what festival-goers can expect.
World Class Black Music Excellence.
Looking forward to upcoming installments, who are a few artists you’d love to get on board?
I’m looking forward to adding in two more days of music next year. I would love to have Jody Upshaw, Vince The Messenger, Kierrah, Kxng Wooz, Zamani, Keonte Beals, The Sanctified Brothers, Trobiz, our Canadian Idol Gary Beals, JRDN, Just Chase, The Hallelujah Praise Choir, I could go on and on listing artists, there is no shortage of talent. I just truly want all of us to succeed and be recognized on the worldstage – because there is a long list of outstanding artists from this region who did not get the flowers they deserved.
Last but not least, tell us a bit about why Halifax is the perfect place for Crescendo Fest to take place.
I mentioned earlier that I’m from the Community of North Preston. North Preston is one of many settlements for the Jamaican Maroons, Black Loyalists, and Refugees of the War of 1812. All of these communities were in existence long before confederation. Our history goes back over 400 years on this land. Nova Scotia is in many ways the Birthplace of Black Heritage in Canada, So historically this is the perfect place for Crescendo Fest to take place.