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2019 Winners of Jonathan Larson Grants Announced, Will Perform at Adelphi
The American Theatre Wing has announced the 2019 recipients of the prestigious Jonathan Larson Grants: Julia Gytri and Avi Amon (book, music and lyrics), Emily Gardner Xu Hall (book, music and lyrics), Andy Roninson (music and lyrics), and Ben Wexler (music and lyrics). All will receive grants of $10,000, as well as additional support in the form of residencies, concerts and recording grants valued at more than $50,000.
Three of this year’s recipients, Roninson and Gytri and Amon, will be honored at the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center (Adelphi PAC) during its 2019–2020 season with an evening of performance featuring their works as part of the Larson Legacy Concert Series. The series celebrates the next generation of creative artists at the college home of Jonathan Larson ’82 to carry on his legacy.
Jonathan Larson in a production while a student at Adelphi
On Sunday, March 24, 2019, two of the Jonathan Larson Grant winners for 2018, Zoe Sarnak and Emily Kaczmarek, will present songs and scenes from their musicals Afterwords and Afloat, as well as never-before-seen works in process, at the Adelphi PAC. This past fall, another 2018 Larson grant winner, singer and songwriter Jay Adana, performed a concert of pieces from the new musical The Loophole, with her original music and lyrics, based on the book by Zeniba Britt.
The Jonathan Larson Grants are given annually to honor emerging composers, lyricists and book writers to help continue Tony Award-winning composer Jonathan Larson’s dream of infusing musical theater with a contemporary, joyful, urban vitality.
Past recipients of the Larson Grants include Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Dear Evan Hansen, The Greatest Showman), Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812), Amanda Green (Hands on a Hardbody), Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal), Joe Iconis (Be More Chill), Matt Gould (Witness Uganda), Michael Korie (War Paint, Grey Gardens), Shaina Taub (Twelfth Night), Max Vernon (KPOP, The View UpStairs) and Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop).
Read more about Larson, and for more information about this year’s Jonathan Larson Grants, see the American Theatre Wing story.
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For further information, please contact:
Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications Director
p – 516.237.8634
e – twilson@adelphi.edu
