National Ballet of Canada Artistic Leadership
Hope Muir
Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director
A leader of bold ambition, Hope Muir is driven by constant curiosity and the desire to cultivate new voices, collaborate in new ways and move ballet forward. An acclaimed dancer, teacher and director whose career bridges classical and contemporary dance across two continents, Hope was born in Toronto and trained in the UK as the first intake of Peter Schaufuss’ Festival Ballet School now English National Ballet School. Upon graduation Hope joined ENB where she danced a wide variety of repertoire followed by Rambert Dance Company, where she performed for a decade under the Artistic Direction of Christopher Bruce CBE. In 2004, she joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago where she remained until her retirement.
Following a 20-year career on stage, Hope moved into teaching and leadership roles. She has assisted numerous choreographers on staging their works, including Christopher Bruce, Javier de Frutos and Helen Pickett. In 2009, she assisted Crystal Pite on the creation of her award-winning Emergence for The National Ballet of Canada and has since helped to stage that work internationally.
Hope joined Scottish Ballet in 2009, eventually becoming Assistant Artistic Director before being appointed Artistic Director of Charlotte Ballet in 2017, where she commissioned numerous world and US premieres.
In 2022, Hope was named the Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada. In this role, she has secured important first partnerships with acclaimed choreographers such as Alonzo King, David Dawson, Helen Pickett, Carlos Acosta, Sol León and Paul Lightfoot, while also supporting Canadian choreographic talent. Notably, her 2024 commission of UtopiVerse by Canada’s William Yong was The National Ballet’s first mainstage work by an Asian choreographer.
David Briskin
Music Director and Principal Conductor
Music Director and Principal Conductor of The National Ballet of Canada since 2006, David Briskin is widely recognized as one of contemporary ballet’s most accomplished conductors.
Prior to moving to Canada, David lived and worked for 23 years as a conductor in New York City, working in opera, ballet and in concert. He conducted for seven years with American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City Center and in major opera houses throughout the world and was a seasonal conductor for New York City Ballet, both in New York and on tour in the US and Europe. In addition, he has conducted for nearly all the major North American ballet companies.
Highly in demand internationally as a guest conductor, David has appeared with The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, The Royal Swedish Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet and Hamburg Ballet. He has collaborated and conducted many important world premieres including Alexei Ratmansky’s Romeo and Juliet, Christopher Wheeldon and Joby Talbot’s The Winter’s Tale and Wayne McGregor and Max Richter’s MADDADDAM. He has worked closely with composers Missy Mazzoli and Lera Auerbach and has served as Music Director for the Nureyev Legend and Legacy Gala at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London. 2024/25 guest conducting engagements include Hamburg Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and David’s first appearance with The National Ballet of Japan in Tokyo.
David has appeared with orchestras and opera companies throughout Europe, Asia and North America including the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati Pops, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Windsor and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras, as well as Calgary Opera, Manitoba Opera, Opera Carolina, Lake George Opera and Sarasota Opera, among others.
Over the years, David has been extremely active in arts education. In 2008, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music where he taught conducting and served as Director of Orchestral Activities and Conductor of the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra until 2015. He was Conductor for the Juilliard School’s Dance Division for 13 years and has mentored several emerging conductors.
David has served on juries for the Ontario Arts Council, the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto and Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation. He has been a strong advocate for musical life in Toronto speaking publicly on behalf of the National Ballet, Luminato Festival and the University of Toronto, among others.
Amanda Ram
Interim Executive Director
Amanda Ram has over 25 years of senior strategic, financial and operating experience within entrepreneurially-driven public and private companies, including a solid track record of executive leadership in the advertising, design and market research industries. She was appointed Chief Financial Officer of The National Ballet of Canada in 2019 and since then has supported
the artistic mission of the organization by skillfully managing the company’s finances and operations, including navigating the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, Amanda was appointed
Interim Executive Director following the departure of
Barry Hughson.
Amanda has been engaged with the performing arts
for over 30 years and has volunteered in a financial
capacity for several non-profit organizations. She holds an Honours Business Administration (HBA) degree from the Ivey Business School and obtained her designation as a Chartered Professional Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.