Thanks to our Chief Sponsors

Before all else in life, thanks are due. If we don’t remember to be thankful for our blessings, we have, in truth, already lost them. Pushkin once wrote: “Call me anything, any name you like--except ungrateful. I would rather be known as mad than ungrateful.”

David B. Sela - Founder and President of Copap Inc., President of Sela Industries

This play would not have been staged without the generous support of our chief sponsor, David Sela. David is living proof that business and arts can coexist in harmony with fruitful and exceptional results. A well-known and respected figure in both the business and the cultural world, David Sela holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bar-Ilan University in Israel as well as a Master’s degree in Business Administration from McGill University and HEC Paris. David began his business career as Sales Manager for Universal Paper Export in 1983 and he founded his own pulp and paper trading company, Copap Inc., in Montréal in 1989. Composed of companies exclusively dedicated to the marketing and distributing of pulp and paper products throughout the world, Copap has rapidly become one of the world’s major companies involved in the purchase, sale, stocking and distribution of pulp and paper products, with offices and affiliated companies in Canada, the United States, France, Brazil and China. Copap sales have more than doubled over the last three years and now total more than 500, 000 tons a year.

In addition to being a successful and influential business entrepreneur, David Sela is a respected musician and singer, who has played violin and sung with many orchestras, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre Métropolitain, I musici de Montréal and L’Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris. Fluent in English, French, Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German, David is a member of the Executive Committee of I Musici de Montréal’s Board of Directors and a director of several major cultural and philanthropic institutions in Canada, the USA, and Europe.

Olga Miller - Director, Russia-U.S. Relations, Renova Group of Companies

Renova Group is a leading Russian business group that has been particularly active in promoting better Russia-U.S. relations through its philanthropic endeavors. The Group supports initiatives in arts and culture, education, healthcare, social works, civil engagement, media and business that promote better understanding between the two countries.

Renova Group holds and manages participations in mining, metallurgy, oil, mechanical engineering, chemical, energy, real estate development, utilities, telecommunications, nanotechnology and financial sectors in Russia, the United States, the CIS, Switzerland, Italy and South Africa. The Group's key investments include stakes in Russian-British oil joint-venture TNK- BP, one of the world's largest aluminum companies UC RUSAL, Russian utility company IES, Swiss high-tech and industrial companies OC Oerlikon and Sulzer, as well as the U.S.-based asset management and investment company Columbus Nova.