THE PLAYHOUSE PROJECT ANNOUNCES THE 2010 ELIZABETH BROCKMAN AWARDS IN MUSIC
EAST HAMPTON, (5/29/10)
The Playhouse Project announced recipients of this year’s Elizabeth Brockman Awards in Music. South Fork
student musicians participated in the Playhouse Project Sixth Annual Master Class on May 27 and May 28,
presented in association with Swiss Global Artistic Foundation. Playhouse Project Founders and Directors, Mirra
Bank and Richard Brockman, are pleased to announce this year’s award recipients.
EXCELLENCE: Kyra Christopher, vocal soprano, age 15, Grade 9
Pierson High School, Suzanne Nicoletti, teacher
PROMISE: Maxfield Panish, violin, age 15, Grade 10
East Hampton High School, Troy Grindle; Lazar Gosman, private teacher
MERIT: Christopher Beroes-Haigis, cello, age 15, Grade 10
Pierson High School, Eric Reynolds, teacher
Davis King, violin, age 17, Grade 12
Southampton High School, Nancy Caine, teacher
Devon T. Leaver, vocal, age 17, Grade 11
Ross School, Adam Judd, teacher
Hannah Riley, vocal, age 16, Grade 11
East Hampton High School, David Douglas, teacher
NEXT GENERATION: Gustave Clerin, piano, age 13, Grade 9
Home schooled, Madeleine Numa, teacher
Vincenzo James Harty, age 11, Grade 6
Home schooled, Elana Connia, teacher
PLEASE NOTE:
Kyra Christopher and Maxfield Panish will appear at the Sixth Annual Playhouse Project Benefit Concert and
Reception with the internationally acclaimed violinist, Hahn-Bin.
Saturday, June 12 at 6:00pm at The Playhouse, 64 Huntting Lane, East Hampton
Tickets: $75; Information: (631) 604-2852 and www.playhouseproject.org
The Playhouse Project is a sponsored project of NYFA, a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt organization
Awards are determined by the Master Class Panel, comprised of Geoffrey Simon; guest artists Barbara Smith
Conrad, and Simon Powis; and Playhouse Project Directors, Mirra Bank and Richard Brockman. Awards for
Excellence and for Promise each carry a prize of $1,000; Merit Awards carry a prize of $250. While Next
Generation Awards do not carry a cash award, they recognize the talents of young artists between the ages of eight
and thirteen, who are not yet eligible for competition.
The 2010 Master Class welcomed 41 High School and Middle School musicians, vocalists and composers, several
of whom are home schooled. While Middle School students participate on a non-competitive basis, they also had
the chance to work one-on-one with Maestro Simon, Barbara Smith Conrad and Simon Powis during both
Thursday’s and Friday’s sessions.
Expanding on the format of previous sessions, this year’s Master Class brought together two artists of international
stature – Geoffrey Simon and Barbara Smith Conrad – to work in depth, and sometimes in tandem, with students
on refinements of musicianship ranging from bowing technique to breathing. Highlights included Ms. Conrad’s
playful and profound physical work on breath control with young singers.
Both Ms. Conrad, and Australian guitarist, Simon Powis, performed for students and the Playhouse audience of
parents, teachers, and fellow young musicians. Ms. Conrad’s powerhouse mezzo soprano offerings of “Wade in
the Water,” “Give Me Jesus” (arranged by Hall Johnson), and Manuel de Falla’s “Siete canciones populares
españolas - #7, Polo” were riveting, as was Simon Powis’ “Rossiniana op 119” by Mauro Giuliani - a compilation of
five Rossini opera themes, re-interpreted exquisitely on guitar.
The annual Master Class, open to all Middle School and High School students on the South Fork of Long Island, is
led by distinguished conductor, Geoffrey Simon, who served as class leader for his fifth year. Maestro Simon
works regularly in London with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestras, and
with many others worldwide. He is Artistic Director of the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation, Music Director
Emeritus of the Northwest Mahler Orchestra in Seattle and has made over forty classical recordings, many for his
own record label, Cala Records.
Maestro Simon has had the opportunity to work with Master Class students over a period of years now, and he
observed that “watching these youngsters mature into serious musicians is really joyous. Having even a small part
in their progress is a privilege. At the same time, one of this year’s winners, Kyra Christopher, is new to us. There’s
fresh talent being nurtured in the schools, and we see it emerging into the Playhouse Project. The format we’ve
evolved is working well - we reach out to every school, to home schoolers, and get a good mixture of ages and
disciplines. We are equally delighted by some very young, precocious music makers, who deserve to be heard. “
Guest artist, Barbara Smith Conrad is a mezzo-soprano whose distinguished career has touched the lives of
audiences around the world. She performed with the Metropolitan Opera for eight years, from 1982 to 1989, and
has appeared in leading operatic roles with the Vienna State Opera, Teatro Nacional in Venezuela, the Houston
Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and numerous others. 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.
It was Ms. Conrad’s first experience at the Playhouse. She praised the unique environment of the Master Class,
which frees students to take risks. Everyone delighted in her “The Sky is Blue” body loosening exercise, involving
a full head-down bend forward, and rapid arching upward, arms flung wide, to release breath from deep inside –
“What I saw from them when it worked was the ‘Aha!’ moment. For those people who have the gift of sound,
that’s a great exercise!” Ms. Conrad was moved by “the openness and the trust of these young people. They feel
protected here, knowing they will not be exposed in a negative way. It’s an extraordinary ambience, with great
purpose.”
Guest artist, Australian classical guitarist, Simon Powis, received his doctorate from Yale University this spring. He
is the first classical guitarist in 27 years to do so. He has performed throughout the United States, Sweden, Belgium,
England, Germany, Austria, Spain, Canada, Liechtenstein, and his home country, Australia.
A number of students were accompanied by Christine Cadarette, a classically trained pianist, and sixteen year
veteran of Broadway shows and touring musicals. She performed the new Alan Menken musical, “Leap of Faith,”
which will open on Broadway in February, 2011. An accomplished conductor, as well as performance coach in voice
and instrumental work, Chris is locally based, and works with musicians of all ages.
The awards presentation will take place at the Sixth Annual Playhouse Project Benefit Concert on Saturday, June
12th from 6 - 9:00pm. Winning artists will perform at the concert on the same bill with dazzling 22-year old
violinist, Hahn-Bin, winner of this year’s First Prize at the YCA International Auditions.
Special protégé of the famed Itzhak Perlman, Hahn-Bin's New York debut at Carnegie's Zankel Hall, and his
Washington debut at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater, received rave reviews. He was celebrated for his
"inspired, innovative and bracing" programs (New York Times) and his "extraordinary, intelligent and beautiful"
performances (The Washington Post). In 2006, as a Juilliard student receiving mentorship from Swiss Global
Artistic Foundation, Hahn-Bin performed for participants of the 2nd annual Playhouse Project Master Class. In
2010, he returns to The Playhouse as our featured Benefit Concert artist.
The Playhouse Project Master Class, open to all local music students, is offered to participants free of charge. We
encourage parents, families, teachers, members of the public, and schoolmates to attend the Master Class sessions
as our guests.
The Playhouse Project
P.O. Box 1620
East Hampton, New York 11937
www.playhouseproject.org
