Peter Balkwill is a founding co-artistic director at the Old Trout Puppet Workshop in Calgary, Alberta, whose internationally acclaimed productions include The Unlikely Birth of Istvan, Beowulf, The Last Supper of Antonin Carême, Famous Puppet Death Scenes, The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan, and Ghost Opera. Peter is also co-artistic director - curator of live performance for the International Festival of Animated Objects, as well as the founder and educational director of the Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry. He is an assistant professor in the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary.