Fiona Santos: Co-Artistic Director
Fiona Santos is a Music
Director, Pianist, Vocalist, Performer, and Instructor for Theatre, Film, TV,
and Live Events.
Fiona has travelled the world playing piano, singing, music directing, and conducting. She tours as a musician and music director with 100 Years of Broadway, the #1 Broadway touring concert - with a roster of top Broadway singers. She is on the directing team of Summer With The Stars (starring 13 American Idols including season 2 winner Ruben Studdard, as well as Corbin Bleu of High School Musical & In The Heights, and Joey Fatone of *NSYNC), and The Ultimate Rock and Roll Experience (starring rock greats from the 1980s onward, including Jim Peterik of Survivor, Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Jeff Carlisi of .38 Special, and Liberty Devitto of the Billy Joel Band).
Fiona is on the directing team of The US Open Tennis Ceremonies, where she was the associate music director for such highlights as Diana Ross and the Broadway cast of Blast!, broadcast on CBS. She arranged and music directed Enya's backup vocalists, (and performed as one of those vocalists), for live performances of her hit song "Only Time" on ABC’s The View. Fiona music directed, arranged music, and played keyboard for the Off-Broadway show The Water Coolers, and she has played in countless other orchestra pits.
Fiona was the founding Artistic Director of Brand X Musical Theatre in upstate New York, and has music directed with companies up and down the East Coast, including Ithaca Opera, Civic Theatres of Central Florida, First Edition, and SAK Comedy Lab, where she tore up the piano improvisationally and comedically every night. She spent two years performing and directing for the Walt Disney World Co., one of the industry leaders in family entertainment.
Fiona received her theatre and music training at Ithaca College and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. She has been a musical director for the Theatre and Dance Alliance in New York City, a Theatre Department Director at Long Lake Camp for the Arts, and an adjunct professor at New York University. She is currently the Artistic Director of Broadway Training Center, and is married to Co-Artistic Director Jason Brantman.
Jason Brantman: Co-Artistic Director
Jason Brantman is a Director of Theatre, Film, TV, and Live Events, currently living in New York. He recently directed Summer with the Stars - a week of events and concerts in Cancun, Mexico - featuring 13 stars from American Idol (including Ruben Studdard), plus Corbin Bleu, Cody Linley, and host Joey Fatone ('N Sync). Shortly after that, Jason directed the Ultimate Rock and Roll Experience – a week of events at the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic – culminating in a New Year’s Eve concert with band members from Billy Joel, Survivor, .38 Special, Starship, Wet Willie, and Night Ranger.
For the past 12 years, Jason has been on the directing team
for the US OPEN Tennis ceremonies, getting to work with incredible
musical legends ranging from Art Garfunkel, James Taylor, Harry Connick
Jr., Tony Bennett, Carole King, and Liza Minnelli to film/tv stars Liev
Shrieber and Phylicia Rashad to theatre icons Ben Vereen, Idina Menzel,
and Twyla Tharp, to fabulous divas Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Gladys
Knight, and Patti Labelle. This event is broadcast live on CBS to
millions of homes around the world, and includes Jason's favorite part
- directing 40 Marines unfurling the largest American flag in the
northeast.
Other live events include: productions for Walt Disney Entertainment,
ABC's "The View," associate director for the IBM e-server Spectacular
event at Radio City Music Hall (featuring the band Smash Mouth), and
production stage manager for The Water Coolers - both off-Broadway and
as a show for corporations such as Microsoft, Toyota, JP Morgan,
Lego, Caesars Entertainment Las Vegas, and the launch of Microsoft's Xbox 360.
NYC and regional theatre directing credits
include: The Crucible, All in the Timing, Urinetown, Les Miserables,
Chicago, Tommy, The Secret Garden, Once on this Island, Sweeney Todd,
Into The Woods, The Fantasticks, Assassins, The Drowsy Chaperone, The
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the world premiere of Lady
Chardonney at Theatre Row
on 42nd Street, and the NYC premiere of Are
We There Yet? at Queens Theatre.
In addition to directing plays, musicals, and live events, Jason has
been the director of several improvisation troupes across the
northeast. He received his improvisation training at SAK Comedy Lab
(training ground for Wayne Brady).
On the filmmaking front, Jason has had the privilege of working with Emmy Award Winning Documentary filmmaker Slawomir Grunberg.
Jason has a passion for animals, and loves collaborating with them
whenever possible. He had the honor of being part of the opening team
of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, performing in a breathtaking free-flight
bird show called Flights of Wonder (developed and run by one of the
foremost animal trainers in the world – Steve Martin). During his time at Disney World Orlando, Jason got to perform at each of the 4 Disney Theme Parks.
Jason is a member of SDC - the Stage Directors and Choreographers
Society, and also a member of AEA - Actors' Equity Association.
Jason is a proud graduate of Cornell University, and very much enjoys
bringing his love of theatre to the next
generation. At the college level, he has been an adjunct professor at
NYU and a director & guest lecturer at Cornell University. At the
pre-college level, Jason is show director for the CASA program at Queens
Theatre, has been a senior director at Long Lake Camp for
the
Arts, has directed at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts, and
has worked with the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center - Youth
Theatre Program. Jason is currently the
co-artistic director of Broadway Training Center with his inspirational
partner Fiona Santos and their mercurial child Mouser.
Heather LoSchiavo: Managing Director, Acting/Dance Instructor, Summer Director
Heather LoSchiavo is an accomplished producer, director,
choreographer, master teacher and performer in NYC, LA and abroad.
Currently, Heather is the Director of the Musical Theatre and Teen
Acting Conservatory Programs at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of
Theatre in NYC and the Managing Director at Broadway Training Center of
Westchester – both not-for-profit organizations dedicated to the
enrichment and education of young people. Her experience in the
professional world of entertainment has informed her teaching style,
blending philosophies and technique to form an organic and impulsive way
of utilizing movement with specialized moment-to-moment acting work.
She is also a visiting guest artist at The Dance Center of Westchester
and The Caymichael Patten Studio for adult professionals. Her students
have been seen on Broadway, listened to on the Radio, featured on
numerous TV shows, and spotted in Films and commercials. Patricia Santos: Administrator, Music Instructor
Patricia Santos, a native of New York, received her Bachelor’s of Music from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory with Regina Mushabac. After earning a magna cum laude degree in cello performance, Patricia’s postgraduate studies were with Bryan Dumm of the Cleveland Orchestra. Additional teachers include Carole Tilson and the late Andor Toth. She has performed at music festivals around the country and was an orchestral and chamber music fellow at Texas Music Festival in 2001. As an eighteen-year-old, Patricia took Gold Ribbon at the Young Artist’s Concerto Competition and subsequently performed Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major with the Rockland Symphony Orchestra. She is currently on faculty at Rockland Conservatory of Music and has served as Principal Cellist for the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra. In addition to her classical music pursuits, Patricia is active in pit orchestras for musical theatre and also collaborates with various bands on recordings and live shows.
Sprout: School Mascot
Sprout's legacy lives on,
not only in the studio named after her,
but in the spirit of camaraderie and closeness the group feels during circle up.
Mouser: New Addition
Mouser is excited to join the BTC family. She can sometimes be found scrutinizing classes from the couches by the main entrance, the area now known as Mouser's Pad. She shares her life
outside the Studio with Jason and Fiona.
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