‘It was just so exciting’: Halifax cellist earns first Juno nomination

Halifax cellist India Gailey is nominated for a classical composition of the year Juno award.

A Halifax cellist and composer is feeling the love ahead of Canada’s biggest night in music.

India Gailey has earned their first Juno nomination - recognized in the Classical Composition of the Year category for “Butterfly Lightning Shakes the Earth,” a piece they wrote and performed with Symphony Nova Scotia.

The project is a poetic, three-movement concerto that imagines the sky, the earth, and a thunderstorm all connected by a single butterfly.

“The butterfly is like the tiny speck of dust that might seem insignificant but has a huge impact,” Gailey said in an interview with CTV’s Katie Kelly from Nuremberg, Germany, where they’re currently studying. “We’re all interconnected. It’s the little strings that hold us together.”

Gailey says the nomination came as a complete surprise.

“I was kind of shocked, honestly. Seeing my name next to the other nominees, I felt like an imposter. But at the same time, it was just so exciting. I didn’t sleep that night.”

Born and raised in Halifax, Gailey has been a fixture in the East Coast classical and experimental music scenes for nearly a decade. They describe their current life as a “monastic cello experience,” studying new repertoire under renowned Canadian cellist Ariel Barnes.

Despite being overseas now, Gailey remains a proud part of the East Coast music community and is nominated for multiple East Coast Music Awards this year. They’ll return to the region this spring for the ECMAs in Newfoundland.

Gailey is one of only a handful of East Coast artists nominated for a Juno this year - alongside fellow Nova Scotian Classified, who earned two nods.

While they won’t be able to make the trip to Vancouver for Sunday’s award ceremony, Gailey says being part of the lineup feels like a win in itself.

The Juno Awards air live Sunday from Vancouver.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page