Welcome Peggy Walt as our new Executive Director

(Dartmouth/Punamu'kwati'jk, NS) The Nova Scotia Kiwanis Music Festival Association announces the appointment of local arts administrator Peggy Walt as Executive Director, effective August 1. The Nova Scotia Kiwanis Music Festival celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2025, and is the largest festival in the region, with both competitive and non-competitive classes offered at all levels.

In making the announcement, Kiwanis Festival Board President Arthur Hood said, “We welcome Peggy to the Festival, and know that the skills she brings will help lead us into a new phase of growth. She has a wealth of experience in arts management and a lifelong love of music, and we’re excited to have her join us later this summer.”

The Festival also acknowledges and thanks its outgoing Executive Director, Christine Mader, who led the organization through its 90th anniversary year.

Peggy Walt has had a career of over 40 years in the arts and culture field in her native Nova Scotia, in the non-profit, government and private sectors. She worked for the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia before joining the provincial civil service where she administered programs including the first Nova Scotia federal-provincial cultural agreement, becoming Director of Cultural Affairs, and helping to create the first Nova Scotia Arts Council.

Following a government restructuring, Peggy created Cultural Affairs Consulting & Promotion, providing services as a booking agent/manager, publicist, and arts administrator.  She was Executive Director of the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association and Atlantic Coordinator for Ballet Jörgen Canada. Peggy served for ten years as Director, Atlantic Region, for the Canadian Music Centre and is also the Administrator for Concerts in Care, and a publicist for Leaf Music. She was also General Manager of Halifax Camerata Singers. Peggy has been nominated Publicist and Manager of the Year by Music Nova Scotia and has been a board member of the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, the Atlantic Book Awards Society, Shaar Shalom Synagogue, Music Nova Scotia, Arts Halifax, and Performing Arts Lodge Halifax.  She’s served on juries for FACTOR, the JUNO Awards, the ACE Cultural Export Awards, the Canada Council for the Arts, and various Canadian book prizes.  

The recipient of scholarships from Mount Allison University, Access Copyright Canada, the Atlantic Jewish Council and the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, Peggy graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College in 2022, completing a memoir entitled, Mine to Tell: Finding A Jewish Family. In 2024 and 2025, she and her husband, cellist Shimon Walt, made presentations about their travels to Lithuania and Estonia in Halifax, Saint John and Fredericton. Her previous degree is Honours English, having graduated cum laude from Mount Allison University.

The Nova Scotia Kiwanis Music Festival began in 1935 and has been sustained for 90 years by committed volunteers and staff, including lead sponsor, the Kiwanis Club of Dartmouth. In 2025, the festival had over 6,000 participants in classes ranging from piano, strings, brass, choir, band and more, with the new addition of a first-time harp class. We thank our major sponsors, the Province of Nova Scotia, the J&W Murphy Foundation, The Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, Doctor Piano, Yamaha Pianos and Eastlink, as well as our numerous donors and supporters of awards and prizes.