ABOUT
Founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Nuovo is a multi-city concert series dedicated to presenting new works by emerging Canadian composers. Nuovo is directed by composers Shanti Sivarulrasa and Benjamin Fraser, who co-founded the series in 2024. A composer-focused series, Nuovo’s programming is built exclusively around bi-annual Calls for Scores.
Nuovo began as an initiative to promote the works of Atlantic-Canadian composers, and has since expanded to include composers throughout Canada. Our 2027 season will include concerts in Halifax, Nova Scotia as well as Ottawa, Ontario. Our upcoming Calls for Scores will be open to all emerging Canadian composers.
CREATIVE DIRECTORS
SHANTI SIVARULRASA
Born in Ottawa, Shanti Sivarulrasa (b. 2003) is a composer and violinist based in Almonte, Ontario. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music (M.Mus) degree at the University of Ottawa on a Special Merit Scholarship. Shanti is pursuing a concentration in composition under the tutelage of Dr. Dinuk Wijeratne. She holds a Bachelor of Music (B.Mus) degree from Dalhousie University where she studied composition with Dr. Jérôme Blais, Dr. Matthias McIntire, and Amy Brandon.
Shanti made her professional solo debut with Symphony Nova Scotia in 2025 performing her composition Chrysalis for solo violin and orchestra as part of the Open Waters Festival. In 2025, she was also the Artist in Residence with the Ottawa New Music Festival. Shanti’s works have been performed by leading Canadian ensembles including Alkali Collective (Halifax, NS), Array Ensemble (Toronto, ON) and Thalea String Quartet (Toronto, ON). Her works have been presented in Canada and the United States by organizations including Lakes Area Music Festival (Minneapolis, MN), Music Around the Corner (Toronto, ON), and Interlochen Center for the Arts (Interlochen, MI). In 2024, Shanti was selected for the first Canadian edition of the Earshot Readings with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa, ON). Most recently, she was named a Composer Fellow with MusiCounts’ Fellowship for Emerging Songwriters in Composers in collaboration with the CBC.
Shanti is a three-time winner of the Dalhousie Concerto Night Competition and served as the Concertmaster of the Dalhousie Symphony Orchestra from 2022 to 2024. She is the recipient of more than a dozen academic and artistic scholarships from Dalhousie University and beyond including the Elisabeth Meyerhof Scholarship in Music, the Evanov Radio Group Scholarship, and the Djokic Family Prize for Excellence in Performance. She is a two-time winner of Dalhousie University’s Jay MacLellan Family Award for Music Leadership and a three-time winner of Dalhousie University’s Fountain Prize in Music. In 2023, she was awarded the Music’s Future Scholarship by the New York based Music Performance Trust Fund.
BENJAMIN FRASER
Benjamin Fraser was twelve when his parents told him he couldn’t be a Jedi when he grew up. So, Benjamin decided he was going to be a film composer.
Since then, Benjamin has worked as the composer on many international award winning films including 2025 shorts Sing to the Wind and The Unknown Soldier. Additionally Benjamin wrote music for the Coca Cola commercial, Auditorium 4, as a part of the Refreshing Films program. He was selected to be a part of the New Generation Film Composers program where he studied with composer Maria Molinar and attended the Screen Music Program in Pavia, Italy where he studied with Alison Plante, and attended lectures from Carlos Rafael Rivera, Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinell.
Outside of film, his pieces have premiered across Canada. From orchestral works to chamber music Benjamin’s musical voice is becoming sought after. In 2025 he released a single, Breathless, and an EP, simplicity.
Currently, Benjamin studies Composition with Amy Brandon at Dalhousie University, where he received the Judith A. Grant Bursary from the Nova Scotia Talent Trust.