Board of Directors

Executive

Laurie Dalton, Chair

Dr. Laurie Dalton is Director/Curator of the Acadia University Art Gallery and Adjunct Professor, Dept. of History and Classics, Acadia University. She brings over 15 years of multi-faceted museum and gallery experience and over 10 years of academic research and teaching in art history, museums and cultural studies.

She holds a Masters from Queen’s University, and a PhD from Carleton University. A core interest for Laurie is the importance of cross-disciplinary initiatives and the central role that the arts can play in this process. She has led research teams and collaborated on projects that champion the transformative role of arts and the importance of interdisciplinary dialogue.

She is active in promoting the importance of the arts in Nova Scotian communities and currently serves on the Art in Public Spaces committee for the town of Wolfville and is a council member of the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council.

Fiona Diamond, Vice-Chair

Fiona has been a principal in Brookes Diamond Productions since its incorporation in 1977. She has been show producer, concert promoter, project manager, and marketing director. She created and co-produced the long-running, nationally-televised Ha!ifax Comedy Festival; is co-producer of Nova Scotia’s spectacular musical production, DRUM!; and is President of KA’NATA Productions Inc.

Volunteer roles include four years on the Executive of the Neptune Theatre Foundation Board of Directors; Board Member of the Life Network in Toronto, six years on the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council and Past President of Family Business Association – Atlantic.

Fiona and Brookes Diamond were named “Persons of the Year”, 2009 by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce for “their outstanding contribution to the quality of life in Halifax” and in 2012 were honoured to receive the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition for their contributions to Canada. In 2015, Fiona and Brookes were named to the inaugural Casino Nova Scotia Music Hall of Fame.

Directors

Randy Glynn

Dancer, teacher, choreographer, director and presenter, Randy Glynn has been a recognised figure in the world of Canadian contemporary dance for over 4 decades. A principal dancer with Toronto’s legendary Danny Grossman Dance Company for 10 years, Mr. Glynn began choreographing in the early 1980’s.

A Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee he is also the recipient of the prestigious Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award. As well, his 2013 creation, Dancing in the Third Act was the first dance piece ever to become a finalist for the NS Masterworks Award.

Currently Randy is the Artistic Director of Live Art Dance in Halifax and Festival of Dance Annapolis Royal (FODAR).

Koumbie (on leave)

Koumbie is an award winning actor, director, writer and producer. In front of the camera she has appeared in a number of local productions with reoccurring roles on shows including CBC's Mr. D, Studio Black, Diggstown, and the final season of Outtv’s Sex & Violence.

Since going behind the camera, Koumbie has directed a number of award winning short films, including the Short Film Face-Off winner Hustle & Heart, a 1k wave feature, Ariyah & Tristan’s Inevitable Break-Up, and an episode of Studio Black S2. In 2016 she was named a “One to Watch” by Sea in Be Scene, in 2018 she was selected as a Five in Focus: Atlantic Director and in the same year won a Telefilm Talent to Watch Grant. Currently in development on a number of projects, Koumbie is drawn to stories that feature new voices and perspectives.

Susanne Lemieux

Suzanne Lemieux is the Principal Oboe of Symphony Nova Scotia. She has performed as guest soloist with Symphony Nova Scotia in more than twenty different programs and delighted audiences with repertoire from all eras of classical music, from baroque to contemporary.

An active chamber musician, Suzanne has been a guest of the Penderecki String Quartet and the Quatuor Arthur Leblanc and was invited to the Prince Edward County Chamber Music festival in Picton, Ontario. She has played recitals at the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage and Salon. She is a returning guest artist at the Scotia Festival of Music and has participated in the Indian River Festival and New Brunswick Summer Music Festival on several occasions. She has toured with soprano Wendy Nielsen and pianist Robert Kortgaard for Debut Atlantic. She is a member of Halifax’s woodwind quintet, Fifth Wind.