SONGS IN STAGES: A Musical Gala Brunch

Lineup

• More details about Barlow & Bear

  Barlow & Bear

  GRAMMY Award winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear are the heartbeat of modern musical storytelling. Barlow & Bear’s first collaboration, “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album”, was written, recorded, produced, and engineered independently in just six weeks with lead vocals by Barlow and orchestration, production and additional vocals by Bear. The album tallies over 50m independent streams and won the 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Theater Album, making Barlow & Bear the youngest-ever winners in the category. Crafted with elements of pop, classical, and jazz, Barlow & Bear’s music blossomed in real time on TikTok, with the audience involved in every step of the creative process via livestream, comments, and duets. Barlow & Bear’s next project is the much-anticipated feature MOANA 2. Barlow & Bear are the youngest composers in history to write all the songs for an animated Disney film, and the first female writing team to do so, collaborating with Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i to craft the sounds of Motonui and beyond. With MOANA 2, Barlow & Bear bring their unique perspective as young, female songwriters to Moana’s journey, with their music matching the scope of Moana’s voyage into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced. Separately, Abigail and Emily each enjoy success in their independent ventures - Abigail is a sought-after pop songwriter for major label artists, actress, and independent artist with over 20m streams, while Emily is a pianist, composer and performer, touring as the pianist on Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour in 2023, and scoring two films releasing holiday 2024. Together, Barlow & Bear marry their influences, breathing new life into the possibility of what musical storytelling can be.

• More details about Georgia Stitt

  Georgia Stitt

  Georgia Stitt is a composer/lyricist, music director, pianist, and producer whose work spans musical theater, orchestral, and choral music. Her original musicals include Snow Child (Arena Stage), Samantha Spade, Ace Detective (National Youth Theatre Award winner), Big Red Sun (NAMT Festival winner), The Water, and Mosaic, among others, with additional projects including The Big Boom and the upcoming Girls Just Want to Have Fun. She has released five albums of her music and is currently developing a new oratorio, The Circling Universe, at Princeton University. Her compositions have been commissioned and performed by organizations such as the Cincinnati Symphony, LA Master Chorale, and Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, with performances of her work heard across the U.S. and internationally. In addition to her composing career, Stitt has an extensive background in film, television, and theater. She served as music director for 13: The Musical (Netflix) and worked on projects including The Last Five Years and NBC’s The Sound of Music Live!. Her theater credits include Little Shop of Horrors (Broadway), Avenue Q, The Music Man, and Parade. She is the Founder and President of Maestra, an organization supporting women and gender-expansive theater musicians, through which she has received an Obie Award and national recognition. Stitt holds degrees from Vanderbilt University and NYU, teaches at Princeton University, and is an active leader in organizations including The Dramatists Guild and The Recording Academy.

• More details about Jaime Lozano

  Jaime Lozano

  Jaime Lozano is a Mexican-born, New York–based musical theatre storyteller, composer, and activist whose work celebrates the voices of immigrants and the Latine community. Named by Lin-Manuel Miranda as “the next big thing” on Broadway, Lozano is the recipient of the 2022 Jonathan Larson Grant and has been recognized by leading institutions including Lincoln Center, the Dramatists Guild, and Goodspeed Opera House. His acclaimed musical El Otro Oz (formerly The Yellow Brick Road) won the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Family Musical, and his work has been presented internationally from New York to Paris. As the creator of Jaime Lozano & The Familia, he has produced sold-out concerts at iconic venues such as Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, and Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. His albums, including Songs by an Immigrant, highlight stories of identity, resilience, and belonging. Lozano’s work also extends to film, contributing orchestrations to In the Heights and appearing in Tick, Tick… Boom!. Alongside his wife, Florencia Cuenca, he co-founded The Familia, an organization dedicated to creating community and opportunities for Latine and immigrant artists. He holds degrees from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and is an active member of the Dramatists Guild, BMI, and the Recording Academy. www.jaimelozano.net @jaimelozano

• More details about Sammy James Jr.

  Sammy James Jr.

  Songwriter and Grammy-winning music producer whose credits include School of Rock, Kinky Boots, and Working Girl. Founder of New York City garage rock band The Mooney Suzuki.

• More details about Sam Hollander

  Sam Hollander

  Sam Hollander is one of the industry’s most renowned songwriters and producers, with multi-platinum success across an extraordinary range of artists including Panic! At The Disco, One Direction, Def Leppard, blink-182, Weezer, Katy Perry, Train, Jewel, The O’Jays, Fitz and the Tantrums, Carole King, and Ringo Starr. Over the course of his career, he has amassed 23 U.S. Top 40 hits, including 11 number ones, 11 top five singles, and 92 Top 10 chart positions worldwide. In 2019, he held the #1 spot on Billboard’s Rock Songwriters chart for nine consecutive weeks, setting a year-end record. Beyond his work in music, Hollander is also the author of the best-selling memoir 21 Hit Wonder: Flopping My Way to the Top of the Charts (BenBella Books), offering a candid look at his unconventional path to success.