Johan Simons the Opéra Bastille in 2006 and Mozart's Il Seraglio at the De Nederlandse Opera in 2008. Simons was artistic director of the Münchner Kammerspiele since 2010. He is the director of the Ruhrtriennale from 2015 to 2017. Simon raised concerns by directing a play in Austria called "Die Neger" ("The Negroes") using blackface against protests and accusations of racism in 2015 Johan Simons Johan Simons (born 1 September 1946) is a Dutch theatre director. Simons received his education at the Rotterdam Dance Academy and the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts. He also taught directing in Maastricht for a number of
Ileana Cotrubaș study at the "Școala Specială de Muzică" school for the musically gifted. Cotrubaș made her stage debut with the Bucharest Opera as Yniold in Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande" in 1964. She subsequently expanded her repertory to include roles such as Oscar in "Un ballo in maschera", Gilda in "Rigoletto", and Blondchen in "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and began appearing in productions throughout Europe. In 1965, Cotrubaș won an important competition in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands where she won first prize in opera, lieder, and oratorio. The following year, she won a radio-television competition in Munich. Those awards, together with her great