Meet the Lamp Family

Founder, Former Artistic Director

Burt Wathen, was a founding member of Symphony Nova Scotia and as acting Music Director was responsible for bringing Maestro Georg Tintner to Halifax. He has taught and served on the boards of the National and Nova Scotia Youth Orchestras in Canada.

Burt served for ten years as Daniele Gatti’s Principal Viola in Bologna, and has served as Principal Viola for some of the world’s most revered conductors including: Riccardo Muti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Roberto Abbado, Georges Pretre, Sir Neville Mariner, Georg Tintner, James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Mstislav Rostropovic, Christian Thielemann, Vladimir Yurofsky, John Nelson, Gary Bertini, Michele Mariotti, and more.

As a viola soloist, Burt performed the Italian premier of Benjamin Britten’s Double Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (Willem Blockbergen violin, Teatro Comunale di Bologna).

In 1999 Burt was one of only two performers in Italy invited to participate in the Millennium Gala Concert in New York as a part of the Symphonicum World Orchestra, comprised only of principal players from orchestras around the world.

As a chamber musician, Burt has performed with Raina Kabaivanska, Walter Trampler, Chantal Juillet, William Tritt, Steve Dann, Andrew Dawes, Joel Quarrington, Phillip Djokic, Terrence Helmer, Rifka Golani, Vladimir Yurofsky, Shlomo Minz, the Gryphon Trio, Mark Fewer, and Walter Delahunt among others.

Burt has an extensive recording history which includes broadcasts by Radio Canada, CBC and RAI. He also served as a juror for international Viola competitions in Genova, Trieste, and Bologna, Italy.

Burt retired as LAMP’s Artistic Director in February of 2024.

Student Services & Logistics

Linda returned home to the Maritimes in January 2020 after many years of varied and eclectic adventures. Originally from New Brunswick, a NSCAD Alumni she moved to Vancouver Island, the British Virgin Islands and beyond. She has many years of administration and management in screenprinting & shipping; then with her husband, running their own yacht repair company, followed by operating a luxury sailing yacht. This brought them throughout the Caribbean and Europe/ Mediterranean and Adriatic. When possible, Linda works on her art – photography, printmaking and textiles - and enjoys being in the woods, on the water and at the shore.

The South Shore of Nova Scotia has always felt like home and she’s grateful to be here.

Trudi’s experience is diverse and includes everything from working as a Legal Executive in the UK and New Zealand to office administration, website design, bookkeeping, graphic design and even teaching in a Lunenburg preschool. Prior to joining the Lamp team, she served as General Manager for the Lunenburg Dory Shop and Office Manager for the Barque Picton Castle. She is involved in the local community, volunteering in a wide range of projects and is a member of the Lunenburg County Music Festival as well as the Board Secretary for Three Churches Foundation in Mahone Bay - a charitable organization created to help fund the upkeep of external facade and streetscape of these three iconic churches in Mahone Bay.

Though she grew up in Halifax, Trudi has lived in Lunenburg County for 20 years with her kiwi husband and their three kids. Music, humour and good food are three things Trudi simply cannot live without.

Project Development

Mike has worked for more than twenty-five years as an impresario and arts administrator with thousands of musicians and artists and produced more than 2000 unique concerts and events over that time. Among other specialties, Mike has served as a Federal Tribunal judge and worked as an actor at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. Since 2009 he has held senior positions with six Olympic Games and continues this work today as the chief consultant for venue operations.

Mike stepped in as Acting General Manager for Lamp from September 2021 (when Susan Corkum-Greek was elected to Nova Scotia’s Provincial Government and subsequently appointed as Nova Scotia’s Minister of Economic Development) and returned for three months in 2023 to act as Interim General Manager when Anne Fownes retired.

Mike was born in Burnaby, BC and lives in Halifax Nova Scotia.

Photographer

We are incredibly honoured that all of the photographic art on the walls of Lamp was created by our good friend, supporter, and artist Raoul Manuel Schnell. In addition to the breathtaking art hanging on our walls, all of the photographs on this website and appearing on much of our promotional publications were also taken by Manuel.

Raoul Manuel Schnell’s Biography

The world of the arts dominated Raoul Manuel Schnell’s life early on owing to his upbringing. Considering this background it was no surprise that he attended the College of Art and Design in Lugano, Switzerland where he found his calling when he set foot into a darkroom for the first time. Though he completed his studies in Interior Design, his only goal from then on was to become a photographer.

Raoul Manuel Schnell specialized in still life and ran a studio with extensive custom-made lighting installations in order to perfectly effectuate the play of light and shadow in a picture. He photographed the most challenging objects but then, after more than 20 years spent in a black studio, it was time for a fresh start.

In 2004 his career changed radically as he moved to Canada. Instead of fully resuming his work in advertisement he began to focus on the artistic side of photography. After being used to working in colour for so long, he now found beauty in black and white photography. He rediscovered his love for food as subject matter and found a new one: people. But some things never change: Raoul Manuel Schnell’s focus on light was - and still is - a central part of his images, but now he has abandoned the studio with its elaborate technologies and uses natural light whenever possible.

His predator-like approach to form and human feature as a psychological mirror marks his very own style, easily identifiable throughout his work.