Montrealer Simon Brault has been with the NTS since 1981. At the School’s AGA, held at the end of October 2008, he was named CEO. He has been its Director General since 1997 and from 1992 to 1997, he was NTS Administrative Director, during which time he coordinated the major restoration and revitalisation project of Montreal’s historic Monument-National.

Convinced that the cultural milieu needed to increase its connections with other players in society, Mr. Brault was closely associated with the Forum d'action des milieux culturels de la Métropole from 1994 to 1999. He also initiated Journées de la culture, a massive undertaking first held in 1997 to popularize the arts and culture across Quebec. During the Sommet de Montréal, held in June 2002, he led a delegation of 20 leaders of the cultural community. He is also a founding member of Culture Montréal and has been its elected Chair since its origins in 2002. Since 2007, Simon Brault heads the steering committee that organized the RV07 – Montreal, Cultural Metropolis event; the committee currently assures the follow up of recommendations made.

Mr. Brault is a long-time supporter of cultural communities and considers himself an ardent “advocate for the arts”. As guest speaker, he has been invited to address a number of national and international conferences. He has been Vice-Chair of the Canada Council since March 31, 2004; his mandate was renewed for another 5 years on January 28, 2009.

In 2005, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada. In September 2008, he was honoured with a Fellowship by the CGA, and in February 2009, he received the Keith Kelly Award for Cultural Leadership offered by the Canadian Conference of the Arts. Simon Brault is presently a member of the International Advisory Board of the Musagetes Foundation.

In September 2009, Mr. Brault launched his first book of essays titled Le FACTEUR C - L'Avenir passe par la culture, published by La Presse / Éditions Voix parallèles. In it, he explains the rise of arts and culture on global public agendas, especially in a time when more than half of the world’s population lives in an urban setting. The book is presently being translated into English by Cormorant Books and is slated for release in May 2010.

After completing her bachelor of Arts degree at UBC and post-graduate diploma at McGill, Sherry Bie studied at the Playhouse Acting School of Vancouver under the Artistic Direction of Powys Thomas, one of NTS’s founders. As an actor, she performed on most stages across the country, including Canadian Stage, National Arts Centre, Centaur, Manitoba Theatre Center, Globe Theatre in Regina and in BC, her home province, at the Vancouver Playhouse, the Arts Club Theatre and the Belfrey Theatre in Victoria. Sherry Bie originated roles in such Canadian plays as Seven Stories by Morris Panych, 1949 by David French and Jennie’s Story by Betty Lambert. In August 2006, she played in the Odin Teatret’s Ur Hamlet at Elsinor Castle, Denmark and the Ravenna Festival, Italy. As a director, she received the first Ray Michals Award for Outstanding Direction by an Emerging Director in 1992. Bie was a company member at the Caravan Stage Company in B.C. and Theatre Beyond Words in Niagara-on-the-Lake. She worked as a guest instructor for more than ten years before joining the School’s permanent teaching staff in 2001 as Artistic Director of the English Section.

Teacher and director Denise Guilbault was the head of the Theatre Department at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf (cegep level) from 1982 to 2000, before being appointed Artistic Director of the French Acting Program at NTS in January, 2001. Since 1996, her reputation as a director has grown, thanks to her staging of plays by David Mamet, Ruth Wolff, George F. Walker, and Henri de Monterlant presented mainly at the Théâtre de Quat’Sous and Théâtre Denise-Pelletier. In February, 2005, she directed La Tempête (The Tempest) by Shakespeare, in collaboration with multimedia designers Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, at Montreal’s Théâtre du Nouveau Monde. The piece has toured internationally, notably in France, Spain and the United States. In the winter of 2006, Ms. Guilbault also directed Wit by Margaret Edson (in its French translation), at the Théâtre de Quat’Sous, and in the autumn of 2007, she directed Électre ou la chute des masques by Marguerite Yourcenar at Québec’s Théâtre du Trident.

Luc Pelletier has over fifteen years of experience in project management and organizational logistics. He holds a degree in administration and human resource management, a B.A. in Communications from the University of Montreal and a certificate from the Institute of Communication and Advertising, in Toronto.

Mr. Pelletier’s career path has led him to work in many cities across Canada; he also spent four years working in The Netherlands. Upon his return to Montreal, he held the position of Account Executive at PALM, a Montreal advertising agency. In this capacity, he worked on a daily basis to develop effective professional relationships between the creative advertising team and his assigned clients, all the while managing large budgets.

Since 2004, Luc Pelletier is one of the directors in the Management Committee of the School. He coordinates the activities of the administrative and student services sectors; he is also an executive member of the Association des écoles supérieures d’art de Montréal (ADÉSAM).