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BMP:NEXTGEN 3 Winner Announced
Beth Morrison Awarded Honorary Doctorate
BMP Presents Jodie Landau in LA, May 29 & 30
Anuj Bhutani Wins BMP:NEXTGEN 3
Announced after the May 17 performance, Anuj Bhutani is selected as winner of BMP:NEXTGEN 3 and commissioned for a full-length vocal-theatre work to be developed and produced by BMP and performed in a future season.
After two extraordinary performances at National Sawdust on May 16 and 17, Beth Morrison Projects is thrilled to announce that MANU by Anuj Bhutani is the winner of BMP:NEXTGEN3, the company’s flagship program for early-career composers. Anuj will receive a commission from BMP to develop an evening-length version of his autobiographical music-theatre work, MANU, over the next two to three years, with a premiere in New York as part of BMP’s PROTOTYPE Festival and in Los Angeles.
MANU weaves an autobiographical story of personal trauma experienced as a student at a Troubled Teen Institute (TTI) with the Hindu flood myth of survival, as two narratives collide and collapse into one. Through live performance and a hybrid musical language that sits in an indie rock space, it becomes a work about endurance, identity, friendship, and the force of memory in shaping who we are and who we become. More information about Anuj Bhutani is available at his website.
MANU at National Sawdust | Photo: Jill Steinberg
Developed and presented as part of this year’s BMP:NEXTGEN 3 cycle, MANU emerged from a weekend of daring, inventive new work on stage at National Sawdust on May 16 and 17, from two exceptional finalists: Anuj Bhutani and Harriet Steinke. Harriet’s work Monna Innominata is a stunning song cycle with lush writing for strings and tight vocals for a quartet of singers.
“Deciding the winner of BMP: NEXTGEN3 was incredibly difficult,” said Beth Morrison, President and Creative Producer of Beth Morrison Projects. “Anuj and Harriet both created extraordinary 30-minute works of vocal theatre that could not have been more different from one another. In the end, I was deeply compelled by Manu and its bold approach to storytelling in music theatre. The weaving together of the Hindu myth of Manu with the narrative of the TTI experience creates a powerful and original theatrical language. I’m thrilled to begin the journey of developing Manu into a full evening-length work with the full support and creative resources of BMP behind it.”
“We are deeply grateful to every artist, collaborator, performer, director, designer, and musician who helped bring this year’s works to life,” Morrison continued. “The level of talent in the room throughout the weekend was undeniable, and the future of opera and vocal theatre feels exceptionally bright.”
Previous BMP:NEXTGEN winners include Emma O’Halloran (Cycle 1), who debuted her commissioned double bill work TRADE | Mary Motorhead with playwright and librettist Mark O’Halloran at PROTOTYPE Festival 2023 to critical acclaim, and has since seen the production tour to LA Opera and the Irish National Opera, as well as being nominated for a 2026 Grammy for Best Opera Recording; and Niloufar Nourbakhsh (Cycle 2) who won the competition with her work Threshold of Brightness and has since been commissioned for a full-length work with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, entitled Silver Cypress, premiering in an upcoming BMP Season.
More information about BMPNEXTGEN 3 available in this press release.
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honored Beth Morrison with Honorary Doctorate at May 9 Commencement Ceremony
Boston Conservatory Executive Director Michael Shinn (left) celebrates with honorary doctorate recipients Beth Morrison (center) and Moses Pendleton. Photo: Mike Spencer
Boston Conservatory at Berklee honored opera producer Beth Morrison with an honorary doctorate during its May 9 commencement ceremony at the Berklee Performance Center. Morrison was recognized for her groundbreaking work as the president and creative director of Beth Morrison Projects (BMP), where she has commissioned, developed, produced, and toured more than 65 contemporary opera and music-theatre works in 19 countries, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning operas Angel’s Bone and p r i s m. A champion of living composers and interdisciplinary collaboration, Morrison has played a major role in expanding the possibilities of contemporary opera for new audiences.
In remarks to the graduating class, Morrison spoke about the importance of vision, perseverance, and community in building a creative life. Reflecting on her own early career, she described creating BMP after recognizing a lack of contemporary opera that incorporated technology, sound design, and other modern story-telling and artistic elements.
"You are the future, and you have the power to write it," Morrison said. In her speech, she discussed three major themes essential to creating a new future: dream, build, and community. She spoke about the need to work together, saying, "Most people who have succeeded in this field want to pay it forward. Use that window. No one hands you a career-build one."
Choreographer Moses Pendleton also received an honorary doctorate at the ceremony.
Click here for more information.
Beth Morrison Projects and REDCAT Present Jodie Landau's Performance of Self at OperaFest LA
May 29 & 30, 8PM
REDCAT - 631 W. 2nd Street, Los Angeles
Tickets and Info
Box Office: 213-237-2800
Jodie Landau. Photo: Dave Stewart
Fusing memoir, concert, and cabaret, Jodie Landau takes up stories of his life in a personal exploration of love, sex, gender, and family. This debut solo show features original chamber rock compositions written and performed by Landau, backed by a seven-piece band of contemporary music all-stars. Performance of Self reflects on the tension Landau has found amidst crafting, curating, and codifying his identity. While labels and definitions have provided comfort to the artist and those around him, this autobiographical piece also considers the ways definitions can also feel limiting in their imperfection. With commentary ranging from online dating to boy bands, Landau contends with what it means to not quite fit into the boxes society constructs in a poignant and funny performance.
Dramaturgy and Direction for the new world premiere version of Performance of Self is by Diana Wyenn. Performance of Self is commissioned, developed, produced and co-presented by Beth Morrison Projects. An earlier version of Performance of Self was presented at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY in 2024. Performance of Self was developed with Peabody Southwell, Gema Galiana, Stephanie Zaletel, and Diana Wyenn.
TICKETS:
Cick here | Call the Box Office: 213-237-2800 | Email: tix@calarts.edu