2026 Faculty
More to Be Announced!
Alison Crockett (USA)
Featured Teacher-in-Residence
Alison Crockett is a luminary in the global music arena, renowned for her captivating vocal prowess and unwavering dedication to education. With a career spanning decades, she has earned accolades as a versatile artist and esteemed educator. Eugene Holley of the Philadelphia Inquirer aptly characterizes her as embodying "Nina Simone's urgency, Betty Carter's chops, and Jill Scott's sass," capturing the essence of her bold and bravura style.
As an award-winning Jazz, Soul, and Electronica vocalist, Alison has left an indelible mark on numerous recordings, from King Britt's groundbreaking "When the Funk hits the Fan" to Us3's innovative fusion album "An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place." Her chart-topping records, including the acclaimed "On Becoming a Woman...", showcase her boundless talent and creative vision.
Beyond her achievements in music, Alison's passion for education shines through her diverse roles. As a professor at Temple University and George Washington University, she mentored aspiring vocalists of all ages, fostering talent and nurturing a deep appreciation for jazz and pop traditions. Currently, she is a professor for the Vocal Pedagogy Program at Shenandoah University, shaping the next generation of vocalists with her expertise in Black American Singing Styles and Vocal Technique.
Alison's commitment to music education extends beyond academia. From directing the Levine School of Music Capital City Voices, adult vocal jazz choir to inspiring school-age children both in and outside of the school day Highbridge Voices in the Bronx, NY and at Fillmore Arts Center in Washington DC. Alison has touched countless lives with her innovative teaching methods and infectious enthusiasm for all forms of Black American Music, most notably, jazz. Her latest WAMMIE award winning album, "Echoes of an Era: My Father's Record Collection Vol.1," released in May 2023, further cements her legacy as a trailblazer in both music and education.
Zoe Leger
Program Director
Raised and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Zoe believes in the power of the voice to create community through song, and is constantly learning from her students and colleagues. Zoe holds a full studio of amateur and professional singers, and focuses her teaching on CCM pedagogy.
Zoe has coached professional singers and actors, post-secondary and post-graduate students and other vocal coaches. Zoe holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance (Jazz Studies) as well as a Masters of Music (Composition). Zoe holds certificates in Somatic Voicework - The Lovetri Method (Baldwin Wallace University) and Acoustic Vocal Pedagogy (University of Michigan). Zoe uses a holistic approach to teach singing that encourages singers to connect mind, body and voice together to reach their fullest potential as artists. Zoe uses science-informed pedagogy in her teaching that motivates singers to challenge pre-conceived notions about what the human voice is capable of, and what makes a ‘good’ singer.
In addition to her private vocal studio, Zoe is the director of the Atlantic Contemporary Vocal Institute. Zoe holds current teaching positions in the music departments of St. Francis Xavier University, The Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University, and Nova Scotia Community College where her roles include private voice instruction, ensemble direction, and lecturing in songwriting, music theory and history. Zoe also has a popular online training program that delivers singing training opportunities at an affordable cost.
Zoe is an accomplished jazz and contemporary vocalist and pianist, songwriter and arranger, who has performed across Canada and the United Kingdom as a solo artist as well as in a variety of contemporary ensembles. Zoe has won and been nominated for East Coast Music Awards and Music Nova Scotia Awards for her solo and collaborative recording projects.
Rachael Delano
Clinician
Rachael is a Halifax-based vocalist and voice coach whose career spans performance and pedagogy. As a singer, she has travelled from Vancouver to New York City, sharing stages with various acclaimed artists. Drawing on this experience, she coaches emerging and professional musicians in developing sustainable vocal technique, control, and confidence, with a focus on vocal health and expressive performance in Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) styles.
Rachael is currently completing her Master of Arts in Voice Pedagogy from the University of Essex (UK) and is scheduled to graduate in 2026. Rachael majored in Music at Dalhousie University's Fountain School of Performing Arts studying Western Classical Voice from 2014-2018. Rachael also holds a certificate in Teaching Popular Music in the Classroom from Berklee College of Music and has an accredited certification in Vocal Health First Aid (VHE/UK).
Rachael has also completed certificate courses from the Voice Study Centre (UK) in Teaching Belt Vocals Effectively & Safely, Vibrato and non-Vibrato singing and has participated in online study events including Gender & Voice with Liz Jackson-Hearns and recently engaged in their Long Covid & Singers study.
Rachael is passionate about learning and staying up to date with the newest voice science and voice related studies. Rachael's current MA research focuses on vocal pathology in career CCM musicians, complemented by coursework regarding trauma-informed coaching and Acceptance Commitment Training (ACT).
Rachael actively takes lessons to engage with her own practice as a teacher and performer with notable figures such as Natalie Weiss (NYC) and Tyler Capa (NYC). In addition to Natalie and Tyler, Rachael has also been taught and mentored by Dr. Fran Farrell, John Henny, John Nix, Dr. Gregory Servant, Marcia Swanston, David Alexis, and Christina Murray.
Rachael's instruction has crossed several institutions, including holding current part-time voice faculty positions at the Nova Scotia Community College and the Atlantic Contemporary Vocal Institute, and past positions at The Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, Fall River School of Performing Arts, Perform Nova Scotia, and Halifax Regional Arts. Rachael is a current ANSMA (African Nova Scotian Music Association) mentor offering voice coaching to developing artists. Outside of those contracts, Rachael spends most of her time performing and offering private voice coaching at her home studio to pre-professional and professional musicians.
Rachael's voice studio is a diverse community that welcomes students from various backgrounds. Her students include local industry professionals (JUNO, ECMA & MNS nominated/winners), Musical Theatre performers (Neptune Theatre & Grafton Street Dinner Theatre), hobby singers, and students from post-secondary arts institutions including Sheridan College (Music Theatre Performance), the Randolph College for The Performing Arts, Nova Scotia Community College Music Arts, Acadia University School of Music, and Dalhousie University's Fountain School of Performing Arts.
Rachael is a current member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), The East Coast Music Association (ECMA) (jury member in 2023 and 2024), as well as Music Nova Scotia (MNS).
In addition to her coaching, Rachael regularly performs and tours with local bands. She is the Lead Arranger and co-host for The Big Sing, and is a regular vocalist with Aquakultre, Braden Lam, and T. Thomason.
Notable performances include 2025 JUNOFest with Braden Lam in Vancouver, opening support for the Strumbellas in the Maritimes (2025) with Braden Lam, Canada; 2025 New Colossus Festival in NYC, USA; 2024 JUNOFest with T. Thomason in Halifax, Canada; CBC's East Coast Music Hour with Noah Malcolm and Nicole Ariana (2024); the main stage 2023 East Coast Music Awards with Aquakultre; Halifax Jazz Fest with Aquakultre and Adam Baldwin (2025) and and Tank and the Bangas (2023); Mosaiq Festival with Aquakultre & Maestro Fresh Wes; Grand Oasis Stage with Aquakultre & Haviah Mighty among many other national festivals; guest conducting with Foreigner; choral appearances with Feist, The Rolling Stones, Cirque du Soleil, the Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Marianas Trench. A more detailed list can be requested.
Rachael lives a life dedicated to music, education, and the art of singing.
Terra Spencer
Guest Artist
Bad ideas, VCRs, crumbling factories, hairy dogs, questionable tattoos...all are fair game for funeral director-turned-songwriter (and 2025 Music Nova Scotia Entertainer of the Year) Terra Spencer. And the songs are good ones, judging from the accolades her four albums have received, and from the caliber of collaborators like Ben Caplan, Dave Gunning, and David Francey, who welcomed Terra as a co-writer and performer on his JUNO-winning album 'The Breath Between'. Cinematic storytelling is a hallmark of many great Canadian folk songwriters, but in Terra's case, it is charged with the wood-paneled '70s warmth of Elton John, Karen Carpenter, and Jackson Browne. As a fun-loving and fearless solo performer, Terra has played some of Canada's most renowned festival stages, including Mariposa, Stan Rogers Folk Festival, and Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival, where her Maritime waltz "Lunenburg Moon" has become an unofficial anthem. Think Steve Poltz and Carole King's East Coast cousin.
Terra grew up as an only child on the banks of the Avon River with the world’s highest tides, surrounded by country music. As a shy teen, she took refuge in her grandparents' basement where she played Broadway show tunes on a battleship upright piano, learning guitar in secret from her granddad's Chet Atkins records. Her passion for songwriting came much later, after being hired on as a backup singer while scooping ice cream at a festival by country performer Ryan Cook. Their travels set the stage for Terra's solo debut in 2018, blooming into a career that quickly overshadowed her funeral ambitions, taking her across Canada and to the US, UK, and Germany, often in the company of the cream of Canadian folk.
Terra's solo fourth album 'Sunset' was named the 2024 Penguin Eggs Roots Music Canada Critics' Choice Album of the Year (alongside Julian Taylor's 'Pathways') and Music Nova Scotia Folk/Roots Recording of the Year, and garnered her ECMA and Canadian Folk Music Award nominations for Solo Artist and English Songwriter of the Year. It features guests from East to West, including Matt Andersen and Stephen Fearing. Although her butterscotch voice, deft fingerstyle guitar, and gospel-charged piano make her a formidable musician, it's her onstage ease, spirited spontaneity, and crackling East Coast wit that make each show feel like a knee-to-knee conversation in a room of 5 or 500, on either side of the Atlantic. “The real deal.” - Ron Sexsmith
Delvina Bernard
Clinician
Delvina Bernard stands as a powerhouse in the Canada’s music and cultural
landscape—an 8th-generation African Nova Scotian whose ancestral lineage traces
back to the Black Loyalists of 1783 and the Black Refugees of 1812. This legacy has
been the heartbeat of her artistry and the driving force behind her career as a nationally
celebrated singer-songwriter, visionary culture-bearer, and fearless architect of change
within the Canadian music industry.
A groundbreaking oral historian and cultural strategist, Delvina has illuminated the ways
in which music is not only a soundtrack to the East Coast but also a dynamic force in
shaping its cultural identity. She is revered for amplifying African Canadian music history
and ensuring that its stories and sounds take their rightful place on both national and
international stages.
As the founding member of the trailblazing, all-female a cappella ensemble Four the
Moment—winners of the 2022 Polaris Heritage Prize—Delvina helped redefine the
East Coast soundscape over three transformative decades. The quartet’s powerful
repertoire, rooted in African Nova Scotian traditions, transcended borders, earning
acclaim across Canada and abroad and paving the way for future generations of Black
and female voices in Canadian music.
Beyond the stage, Delvina has emerged as an influential champion of equity and
innovation in the industry. She is the co-founder of the African Nova Scotian Music
Association (ANSMA) and co-investigator of Music Nova Scotia’s Black Music
Strategy, Black Music Matters—a landmark policy initiative advancing racial equity
and industry access for Black artists. Her leadership extends to the national level as a
member of the Juno Awards Jazz Committee, and regionally as former member of the
Lieutenant Governors Arts Master Prize Committee, an award established to
recognize outstanding achievements in the arts. She is co-founder of the Young,
Gifted, and Black Women in Jazz Showcase. At the East Coast Music Association
(ECMA), she holds multiple leadership portfolios, including Board Vice Chair, EDIA
Lead, and Black Music Committee Coordinator, helping reshape the organization’s
vision for inclusivity and representation.
With a professional background as an educator, policy analyst, and institutional change
strategist, Delvina embodies the role of a national thought leader whose influence
reverberates far beyond performance. She is recognized as a catalyst for cultural
transformation—bridging artistry, advocacy, and policy to advance the music ecosystem
on the East Coast and across Canada.
Cassie Mann
Clinician
Cassie Mann (she/her) is a bassist, musical director, and playback engineer based in Halifax. Known for her versatility and high-energy live performances, she works with artists across genres including Burry, Kids Losing Sleep, Loviet, and Braden Lam.
On stage, Cassie balances roles as a session player and MD, enhancing shows with playback and production that elevate each artist’s sound. In the studio, she has co-produced and written for Burry, Qwinn, Fallon Fraser, and others, with her work drawing comparisons to the chemistry of Billie Eilish and Finneas.
With four consecutive Music Nova Scotia Musician of the Year nominations, Cassie has built a reputation as one of the region’s most in-demand collaborators—whether holding down the low end, directing a band, or shaping the production behind the scenes.
Edward Enman
Collaborative Pianist
Edward Enman is a classical pianist and composer whose original musical style has been shaped by the lush lyricism of Sigur Rós and the rhythmic drive of John Adams, while taking on a powerful warmth all its own. His inventive voice draws from storytelling, cinema, and visual art, while incorporating electronic elements and style-blurring writing.
As a recording artist, performer, and creator, Edward strives to create meaningful connections with listeners while breaking down stylistic barriers in the classical music world. He holds an enthusiasm for compelling programming and enjoys combining the old with the new.
Edward’s first full-length albums of original music Breathe In, Breathe Out (2022), and Insights (2023) have each been nominated for Classical Album/Composer of the Year from the East Coast Music Awards and the Nova Scotia Music Awards. His newest 2023 release Insights features Edward as pianist and composer in a 12-part work for solo piano.
As a soloist and collaborative performer, he performs regularly across Canada, and his compositions have been premiered and performed around the world. Edward was pianist and arranger on the 2023 album Je me souviens à toi with singer Rose Naggar-Tremblay and bassist Gabriel Lapointe. In 2024-2025, he will be releasing two solo albums: WE ARE HERE, and Silver Light: Fantasies on Poems by Sara Teasdale while also being featured as a contributing composer on rap artist Quinton Barnes’ new recording project.
Dr. Enman holds degrees in solo piano performance from the University of Montréal (DMus), University of Ottawa (MMus), and Acadia University (BM). He is a part-time instructor at Acadia University, a vocal coach at the Fountain School of Performing Arts, and a teacher on faculty at the Scotia Suzuki School of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he lives with his family.
Adam Johnson
Collaborative Pianist
Adam Johnson is a musician and educator from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. He is the organist and choir director at Port Wallis United Church, and the middle school music teacher at Halifax Independent School. He plays piano in a variety of groups in Halifax, in popular, jazz, and choral styles. Adam directs the Club Inclusion Choir, a musical group open to people of all challenges and abilities, and accompanies the choirs Spira, Polaris, and Astra of the Choirs for Change organization. He holds degrees from Bishop’s University (BA Hons piano), the University of Miami (MM Choral Conducting) and Memorial University (BMusEd). Adam enjoys arranging and composing for choir.