Norwegian pianist, Dr. Haakon Smith is the founder and executive director of International Voice of Justice-Europe. Haakon has served on the faculties of Nyack College, the Folk University system of Norway and has been the founder and director of Oslo Music Academy. Together with his wife, Martha Smith, Soprano, Haakon Smith, pianist, has performed concerts in the United States and in many nations of Europe, as well as performing as a solo artist. Dr. Smith has an earned doctorate from Columbia University, New York City, where he was also awarded a Master of Arts and Master of Education. He received a performer’s diploma from Rogaland Conservatory of Music in Stavanger, Norway and is a graduate of St. Olav College in Minnesota, USA. Together with his wife, Martha, Haakon has founded the organization International Voice of Justice-Europe with the mission of Holocaust education through music and the arts. Haakon and Martha Smith have worked on producing Holocaust-related opera, memorial concerts and theater productions in the United States and across Europe.
Dr. Martha Smith is the artistic director of International Voice of Justice – Europe. Martha Smith has worked as a professor of voice in the State University of New York, Columbia University (as a teaching fellow), Nyack College and in Oslo Music Academy and the Folk University system of Norway. She has also performed as a classical singer in opera, concert and on radio and television in the USA and in Norway. Martha holds a doctorate from Columbia University in the college teaching of music. She has studied in the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria; in London with Andrew Field and Audrey Langford, in New York with Igor Chichagov Martha ,graduated with honors from Ohio State University with a master of music degree in opera studies. Martha Smith was awarded “Outstanding Young Women of America,” was a New York Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Young Artists Auditions and is the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards. She has performed in opera, concert, with orchestra and on radio and television in the USA and Europe.
As a playwright and composer, Martha Smith, together with her husband, Dr. Haakon Smith, has produced works for the stage ranging from musical theater, opera and musical dramas. Among her works are:
