Imani Uzuri - Composer and Theater Maker Third Recipient of the $35,000 Hermitage Major Theater Award

Imani Uzuri

The Hermitage Artist Retreat

Announces

Composer and Theater Maker

Imani Uzuri

as the Third Recipient of the $35,000

Hermitage Major Theater Award

 

The Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA) recognizes a playwright or theater artist with a commission of $35,000 to create an original work, in addition to providing a residency at the Hermitage and an inaugural workshop of the newly created musical, anticipated for the fall of 2024 in New York, Chicago, or London.

 

The distinguished Award Committee for the third HMTA included

Artistic Director of New York Stage and Film Christopher Burney,

Artistic Director of New York Theatre Workshop Patricia McGregor, and

Tony Award-winning composer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Jeanine Tesori.

Imani Uzuri

Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat, announced that composer and theater artist Imani Uzuri has been selected as the third recipient of the Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA). This national jury-selected prize, established by the Hermitage in 2021 with generous support from the Kutya Major Foundation, offers one of the largest non-profit theater commissions in the country. Uzuri will receive a cash prize of $35,000, as well as a residency at the Hermitage (Sarasota County, Florida) and a developmental workshop in a major arts capital such as New York, Chicago, or London in the fall of 2024. Uzuri, raised in rural North Carolina, is an award-winning composer, vocalist, experimental librettist, improviser, and lyricist. 

Three distinguished finalists for the third Hermitage Major Theater Award include Nissy Aya, a playwright, educator, and cultural worker; AnnMarie Milazzo, a Tony and Grammy Award-nominated vocal designer, orchestrator, and composer; and Daniel J. Watts, a Tony Award-nominated actor and theater artist.