Crystal Marie Kolt has been a major force for the development of the arts in northern Manitoba. A graduate of the University of Manitoba’s faculty of music, she is the musical director for the Flin Flon Community Choir. As such, she has guided choir members to performances with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and at New York’s Carnegie Hall. She is central to the national Culture Days Festival, locally as the Flin Flon festival co-ordinator, provincially on the Manitoba Task Force and as a consultant to the National Committee. As co-ordinator of the Flin Flon Arts Council, she promotes local artists and brings others to the community, such as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to whose International Board she was named this year. Ms Kolt also helped establish the Flin Flon Film and Music Coop, hosting provincial and national film executives in the process. In 2011, Flin Flon was among the Canadian communities chosen by the National Film Board to showcase the Get Animated films. The recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Make a Difference Award, her long-term goal is to create a North Central Academy of the Arts and Environment.
