Jaime Lozano is a Mexican multi-hyphenate musical theatre storyteller considered by Lin-Manuel Miranda as the “next big thing” on Broadway. American Theatre Wing’s Jonathan Larson Grant 2022. Joe’s Pub Working Group 2020-2022. The Civilians R&D Group 2020-2021. JACK Resident Artist 2021. Lincoln Center Resident Artist 2023. Selected works: El Otro Oz -formerly The Yellow Brick Road- (Off-Broadway & National Tour), Carmen La Cubana (European Tour), Children of Salt (NYMF 2016 “Best of Fest” Production), A Never-Ending Line (Comédie Nation in Paris, France & OffBroadway), Savage (UAB at Birmingham), Present Perfect (Live & In Color), Desaparecidas (JACK). Albums: “A Never-Ending Line,” “Jaime Lozano and the Familia: Songs by an Immigrant” released by Broadway Records. Film: “In The Heights” (orchestrations), “Tick, Tick… Boom!” (cameo in Broadway composers scene). His project “Jaime Lozano & The Familia” has performed sold out concerts at prestigious venues such as Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, The Green Room 42, Two River Theater, and more recently as part of the prestigious Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Series. His anticipated new album “Songs by an Immigrant Vol. 2” was released by Grammy Award winner label Concord Theatrical Recordings. Currently working on “Broadway en Spanglish” album, Roja, Desaparecidas and Frida, The Musical. He is part of the faculty of The New School and Berklee NYC. BFA: Music & Composition, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; MFA: NYU/Tisch, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (Full Tuition Scholarship.) He was part of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America, AFM Local 802, BMI and GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY voting member. Mi Henrucha hermosa, mi Alonzo y Ely Aimé. TE AMO. TODO. SIEMPRE. jaimelozano.net IG: @jaimelozano

Fouad Dakwar is a Palestinian musical theater writer whom Playbill aptly describes as “a darkly comic pop-punk composer on the rise.” His semi-autobiographical musical, ‘Fouad of Nazareth,’ was developed in Berklee NYC’s Writing and Production for Musical Theater Master’s program and premiered at Joe’s Pub to two sold-out concert fundraisers followed by a 29-hour reading presentation in Noor Theatre’s Highlight Reading Series.

Fouad has been a featured artist on the Playbill Songwriter Series and was a 2023 Jonathan Larson Grant finalist, 2023 Ars Nova CAMP finalist, 2024 Yes And… Laughter Lab finalist, 2023 and 2024 National Music Theater Conference semi-finalist, and 2024 Live & In Color semi-finalist. (Suffice it to say, he’s pretty damn grateful he made it past the finalist round this time!)

Fouad is also a proud member of the Joe’s Pub Council and has been an invited speaker at the Public Theater, NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing program, and the Game Devs of Color Expo.

In addition to his writing career, Fouad has supported the next generation of artists as Assistant Director for the New York Youth Symphony’s Musical Theater Songwriting program, a volunteer composer for the 52nd Street Project, and a Post-Graduate Fellow at Berklee NYC where he now works full time as the resident Admissions and Enrollment Officer.

You can find Fouad on Instagram and TikTok (@notfouad) where his satirical content has garnered over 5 million likes.

Ari Afsar (she/her) is a Bangladeshi-American mixed race singer, songwriter, and storyteller who believes in the power of art changing culture, and culture changing policy.  A graduate of Ethnomusicology from UCLA, Afsar released her album, WE WON’T SLEEP, distributed by Sony Masterworks. She just finished her commission as an Artivist Fellow as a composer/lyricist for the Tony-award winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition. This past summer she was selected for Groundfloor at Berkeley Rep with her new musical THAT GIRL, book writer: Rehana Lew Mirza. Her work has been commissioned/featured at the La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theatre (commissioning I & YOU: THE MUSICAL with book writer: Lauren Gunderson), Clarence Brown Theatre at UTK (developing comedy-musical TEACHER OF THE YEAR), and NMTC at the O’Neill, where she won the 2019 Georgia Bogardus Holof Lyricist Award for JEANNETTE (book writer Lauren Gunderson & Jordan Ealey). Afsar has opened for Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris, Gloria Steinhem, and Hillary Clinton and will be making her Joe’s Pub Solo Show debut November 7 2024 featuring music across her discography. She starred in the top 10 Netflix movie WEDDING SEASON, composed with Pasek & Paul for Shawn Mendez in Sony’s LYLE LYLE CROCODILE, originated Eliza in Chicago’s HAMILTON, starred in the world premiere of BHANGIN’ IT at La Jolla Playhouse, awarded top 10 at MISS AMERICA as Miss California, and placed top 36 on AMERICAN IDOL. She is currently an MPA candidate at NYU Wagner. www.ariafsar.com @ariannaafsar

Emma Ashford (she/her) is a multidisciplinary writer, composer, and performer originally from California. A graduate of the University of Michigan’s B.F.A Musical Theatre program with a Minor in Musical Theatre Composition, Emma loves to tell uniquely American stories with her pen and piano, raising a mirror to our culture with humor, heart, and (often) a dark wit. Recently, Emma’s show HEARTBEATS (for which she wrote book, music, and lyrics) was selected as a Semi-Finalist at the O’Neill National Musical Theatre Conference for both 2023 & 2024, along with having its first industry reading in May. Additionally, two of Emma’s songs from the movie-musical 1660 VINE (directed by NYTW’s Patricia McGregor) received Awards of Excellence at the IndieFEST Film Festival 2023, as well as Best Original Song at the Vegas Movie Awards 2023 & The Indie Filmmaker Awards 2024 (1660 VINE is now available through MTI). Emma’s compositions have been supported by the Songbyrd Organization, and have been performed all over NYC, including venues such as The Musical Theatre Factory, The Green Room 42, Chelsea Table & Stage, 54 Below, and the Brooklyn Comedy Collective. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA.

Veronica Mansour is a composer/lyricist/artist.  She is a 2024 Richard Rodgers Award Winner and Jonathan Larson Grant winner, was recently nominated for a Marvin Hamlisch International Music Award (Musical Theatre Composition), selected as one of four writers for DreamWorks Theatricals, MTI & NBCUniversal Emerging Writers Program (currently commissioned to write How To Train Your Dragon Jr.), and one of three 2023 Write Out Loud Contest Winners for her song “Runaway Girl” (written with abs wilson).  Current works: LIGHTHOUSE (NAMT Winner 2024, Eugene O’Neill NMTC Winner 2024 & Finalist 2023, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat 2024, Syracuse NWNV 2024, Olney Theatre Center Vanguard Arts Fund Finalist 2023, New York Theatre Barn New Works Series 2023, Vanguard Theater New Works Festival Commission 2023, St. Olaf College World Premiere 2024, NAMT Finalist/Playlist) and The Dark Lady (Eugene O’Neill NMTC Winner 2023, Syracuse NWNV Finalist, 2024 Musical Theatre West New Works Festival, 2024 Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals, 2024 South Carolina New Play Festival).

Sophie Boyce is a Lyricist-Librettist originally from London UK. Credits include “The Dark Lady” (Eugene O’Neill NMTC Winner 2023, Goodspeed Musicals Jonny Mercer Writers Grove 2024, South Carolina New Play Festival 2024, MTWest New Works 2024 and Syracuse NWNV Finalist 2024) and “The Forty Elephants” (Edge Hill University New Works Initiative 2024 and The Other Palace Musical Bites 2024). Sophie has most recently been honoured as Finalist for the Kleban Prize for Lyricism, Write Out Loud and the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Award.

Sophie is alum of the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and BMI Lehman Engel Bookwriters Workshop. Prior to all of this she was a member of the Writers Room for the BAFTA-Award-Winning television series ‘Skins’, and Founder/Director of the acclaimed UK-based Musical Theatre program, Spirit YPC.

April Dae Okpwae is a performer, playwright, composer, lyricist & community organizer. She’s a Dramatist Guild Musical Theatre Fellow who explores social inequities through comedy centering black folk. Her 15-character solo show, I’mma Do Me, satirically exposes the impact of poverty in America & has won several awards including Best Emerging Actress at United Solo Theatre Festival in NYC and Best Short Play at Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. Her concert
credits include Poetic Theatre Productions’ Feeling Good as Ritual, Musical Theatre Factory’s 4X15, and Maestra’s & Parent Artist Advocacy League’s Motherhood Concert. She was commissioned to create a new audio streaming musical for Playwrights Horizon’s Sounstage series. Her music(al) video, Be Soft Be Pretty, is a 2021 Hip Hop Film Festival Official Selection.

Her latest work, Queens of Solomon, has been developed at Goodspeeds Musical with the Johnny Mercer Writer Grove and New York Stage and Film through DGF. Bringing together the traditional musical theatre canon with the music of Hip-Hop, R&B, gospel, & afrobeats, Queens of Solomon, re-examines this ancient biblical story as a celebration of black women as political powerhouses and cultural creators under oppressive rule. As a community organizer, April Dae has worked in black & brown communities throughout New York City and Detroit, MI conducting performance-based development workshops. She is a founding board member of BlackCount, an arts- based voter education, engagement, & advocacy organization. Born & raised in Detroit,

April Dae received her BFA from SUNY Purchase performing in television, theatre, & universities throughout the country. She is a mother, wife, believer, and celebrator of blackwomandom.

Joriah Kwamé is a musical writer most known for penning standalone song “Little Miss Perfect”, which has grossed over ten million views and inspired a Broadway aimed musical of the same name. With Pasek and Paul, he co-wrote “Top Of The World” for Sony Picture Film LYLE LYLE CROCODILE, performed by Shawn Mendes. Dreamworks Theatricals (TROLLS JR) Chicago Shakespeare Theater (SINISTER), Olney/Goodspeed Musicals (LITTLE MISS PERFECT). 2020 Johnny Mercer Songwriting Project. 2022-23 Jonathan Larson finalist. ASCAP Cole Porter Award, Harold Adamson Lyric Award.

@JoriahKwame

Joriahkwame.com

Julián Mesri is a New York-based Argentinean-American playwright and composer who makes multilingual plays and musicals in the US and around the world. He is the co-adaptor and composer/lyricist for the upcoming bilingual production of Comedy of Errors for the Public Theater Mobile Unit. He received an EST/Sloan Commission in 2021 for his musical Favaloro: A Heart in Pieces. Recent work includes Telo (Live and In Color Finalist, O’Neill NMTC Finalist), Bartolomé de las Casas Ruins My Pool (O’Neill NPC Finalist), Immersion (Columbia/Roundabout Finalist, BAPF Semi-Finalist). Other work includes music directing/arranging Songs About Trains with Radical Evolution, music directing and co-orchestrating Brian Quijada’s Somewhere Over the Border (Syracuse Stage, Geva Theater). He is a Core Writer at the Playwrights Center and has been a member of the Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, a Dramatist Guild Fellow, an Emerging Artist of Color Fellow and Usual Suspect at NYTW, and a Van Lier fellow at Repertorio Español. His adaptation of Fuenteovejuna received the HOLA Outstanding production award. He has also translated dramatic works for the Lark US/Mexico Exchange and PEN World Voices. He received his MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University.

Nicholas Connors is a composer/lyricist, Broadway conductor and orchestrator. He is a Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow and a recent finalist for the Ed Kleban Prize and Fred Ebb Award. For his new musical COAL, Nicholas was a 2023 Jonathan Larson Grant finalist and an Artist-In-Residence at New York Stage & Film and The BringAbout. Other stage musicals include PAPER VALLEY and HERE, IN THE PARK.

Nicholas has orchestrated and arranged music for many stars of the stage and screen, including Kristin Chenoweth, Tina Fey, Lea Salonga, and André De Shields. His orchestrations have been performed by orchestras across the country, from Carnegie Hall to the White House. Nicholas’ Broadway credits include ALMOST FAMOUS (Asst. Music Director), Kristin Chenoweth’s FOR THE GIRLS (Assoc. Music Director, Orchestrator) and MEAN GIRLS (Pianist). Nicholas is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Website: www.Nicholas-Connors.com
Instagram: @nick_connors