Bill Bragin is a co-founding producer of the not-for-profit world music festival and service organization globalFEST. He is the founding executive artistic director of The Arts Center at New York University Abu Dhabi. Previously, as the director of public programming of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, he attracted hundreds of thousands of audience members to the popular Midsummer Night Swing and Lincoln Center Out of Doors festivals, and commissioned and premiered numerous new works in a variety of disciplines. He also helped set the artistic vision for the free programs at the David Rubenstein Atrium. Previously, as Director of Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, he commissioned and helped develop what became the Tony Award-wining musical Passing Strange. He is a former member of the board of trustees of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP). As “Acidophilus,” he has did internationally as part of GlobeSonic Sound System.

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Isabel Soffer, co-founder and co-director of globalFEST in 2003, has been at the forefront of global music programming in the USA for over 25 years.  She is director of Live Sounds, a company that produces, creates and curates music and dance programs in New York and across the country whose work is devoted to preserving and cultivating innovative, thought-provoking and traditional performing arts from around the world to build bridges and engage audiences and communities. She has developed, produced and curated influential music festivals, tours, symposia, grammy-nominated recordings, film festivals and gallery exhibits. She regularly collaborates with international cultural institutions on a variety of projects in the US and abroad and serves on numerous local and international conference panels and juries. She is host of the weekly radio show ForeignExchange on Little Water Radio. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 

Shanta Thake is the Senior Director of Artistic Programs at The Public Theater, overseeing the growth and development of Public Works, Mobile Unit, Under the Radar, Joe’s Pub, The Shakespeare Initiative and Public Forum.  Previously, she spent 10 years as the Director of Joe’s Pub, the intimate cabaret venue which hosts over 700 shows annually and is consistently hailed as one of New York City’s most prestigious venues for both emerging and established artists. In addition, Ms. Thake is the co-director of GlobalFEST, North America’s world music festival and non-profit organization whose mission is to foster cultural exchange and to increase the presence of world music in diverse communities nationwide and she serves as the co-chair of the 2019 and 2020 Association of Performing Arts Professionals conference. Ms. Thake received a BA in theater as well as a degree in management from Indiana University and currently lives in Brooklyn.

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