People

Richard Brockman

Richard Brockman (co-Artistic Director) is a psychiatrist and a writer. In addition to his book, A Map of the Mind, he has written plays, staged in New York and regional theaters, such as Good Behavior, Informed Consent, Angels Don’t Dance, and Unprotected Sex. His work has been published in The Atlantic Monthly, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He has received awards and grants from The New York Foundation for the Arts, The SXSW Film Festival, the Samuel French Best Short Play Festival and the New York State Council on the Arts. Angels Don’t Dance was produced in London at The Blue Elephant Theatre in 2006; Informed Consent was produced in London at The Jermyn Street Theatre in 2007.  Brockman is a member of the Actors Studio Playwrights & Directors Unit, as well as a member of The Dramatists Guild and The Algonquin Theater Company.








Mirra Bank

Mirra Bank (co-Artistic Director) works in both film and theater. Her feature documentary, Last Dance, followed a stormy collaboration between the acclaimed modern dance company, Pilobolus, and legendary author/illustrator Maurice Sendak. Short-listed for an Academy Award in 2002, Last Dance played theatrically and was a winner on the international festival circuit. Bank’s Nobody’s Girls, about minority women in the Old West, was a primetime PBS special. Her independent feature, Enormous Changes, starring Kevin Bacon, premiered at Sundance and went on to a critically praised theatrical release.  Bank’s television work appears on PBS and The Sundance Channel; she has been honored with numerous industry and production awards.  She is a member of the Actors Studio, and has co-run the Playwrights & Directors Unit there with Academy Award winning actress, Estelle Parsons.










Geoffrey Simon

Geoffrey Simon – Artistic Director of the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation and Cala Records. This is Geoffrey’s fourth year giving the Master Class at The Playhouse. He is Music Director Emeritus of the Northwest Mahler Orchestra and has been Music Director of the
Albany Symphony (New York), the Sacramento Symphony (California) and the Orchestra of Palma (Majorca, Spain). Guest engagements and over 40 recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and others.

Read an extended biography here










Simon Powis

Simon Powis – The Australian classical guitarist Simon Powis is currently a doctoral student at Yale University and now lives permanently in the United States. He has performed throughout Europe, the Americas and Australia and has been a Swiss Global artist since 2006. Mr Powis teaches guitar to the undergraduate students at Yale and has taught masterclasses in several international guitar festivals. Following his valuable teaching and delightful performing in the Playhouse Project in 2009 Mr Powis is returning for a second time. www.simonpowis.com

Read an extended biography here












Barbara Smith Conrad

Barbara Smith Conrad is a mezzo-soprano whose distinguished career has touched the lives of audiences around the world. Barbara performed with the Metropolitan Opera for eight years, from 1982 to 1989, and has performed leading operatic roles with the Vienna State Opera, Teatro Nacional in Venezuela, the Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and many other international opera houses throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and South America. Under the direction of some of the world’s leading conductors, including Maazel, Bernstein, and Levine, she has performed much of the mezzo-soprano concert repertoire with the world’s greatest orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic and

the London, Boston, Cleveland, and Detroit Symphonies. Barbara continues to complement her performing activities with artist residencies and master classes, establishing herself as one of the foremost builders of voice both in the United States and abroad. She is the co-director and co-founder of the Wagner Theater Program at the Manhattan School of Music, and she maintains a private vocal studio in Manhattan.












Heather de Haes

Heather de Haes was born in Australia and educated in Australia and New Zealand. She holds a university degree in Arts and in Music, and has performed as a professional flautist, in particular with the New Zealand Concert programme series. She has also taught and lectured in literature and music Upon her arrival in London some twenty-five years ago, she set up a number of highly successful business enterprises associated with the arts, and in particular with fine painting. More recently Heather has engaged in fostering the careers of young musicians, and her long acquaintance with Switzerland, where she has now taken residence, led her to create the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation. She remains actively involved in artistic and musical projects in the UK, Europe, Australia, and USA.  Heather de Haes is Chairman of the Australian Music Foundation, London and a Member of the Board of Governors, Aiglon College, Switzerland.










Swiss Global Artistic Foundation

The Swiss Global Artistic Foundation was formed in London in 1999 as the Anglo-Suisse Artistic Foundation. Changing its name in 2006 to reflect international growth and broadening horizons, the Foundation holds charitable status in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States. With London, New York, Geneva and Montreux as its centers of support, the Foundation includes an internationally-selected artists’ roster, as well as a worldwide network of Friends’ organisations. In its nine years of existence, the Foundation has assisted over sixty artists from eighteen countries, and produced as many artistic events. Collaborating with distinguished individuals, embassies and cultural funding institutions, the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation promotes artists through ongoing business partnerships, often providing corporate hospitality through music in unique venues.