Awards

About
Jury 2025
Winners 2023

Awards

The Music Theatre NOW Awards are the leading international accolade for first productions of new opera and music theatre, professionally created anywhere in the world. Since their launch in 2008, the awards have attracted over 2,000 world premieres, establishing a unique global platform that connects groundbreaking artists with major presenters.

Previous awardees have gone on to present their work at renowned festivals including O. Festival (Rotterdam), Prototype Festival (New York), Seoul Performing Arts Festival, Wiener Festwochen and Musiktheatertage Wien (Vienna), BE Festival (Birmingham), MaerzMusik (Berlin), Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh Art Festival, and the Shanghai International Contemporary Theatre Festival ACT. Music Theatre NOW has played a pivotal role in launching international careers, cementing its reputation as a key springboard for emerging voices in the field.

For this edition, an international jury of five distinguished professionals will select a minimum of four outstanding productions.

Applications for the Music Theatre NOW Awards 2025 are now closed.

The selected artists will be invited to present their work at the international Music Theatre Now Conference, taking place during the O. Festival in Rotterdam in May 2026.

Gabrielle Martin (Canada)
Gabrielle Martin is Artistic Director of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver. With a background in contemporary dance and dramaturgy, she curates interdisciplinary live art that prioritises embodied criticality, pluralism, and social urgency. Her career spans performance, festival management, and international jury service.

Bronwyn Lace (South Africa)
Bronwyn Lace is a visual and performance artist, and Company Director of The Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg, which she co-founded with William Kentridge. She is also co-founder of The ZoNE, a transdisciplinary collective based in Vienna. Her work explores intersections between art, science, and philosophy, often through collaborative practice.

Lemi Ponifasio (Samoa/New Zealand)
Lemi Ponifasio is a Samoan-born theatre director and choreographer, and the founder of MAU. Renowned for his radical approach to performance, he integrates indigenous knowledge systems and community engagement into works that challenge conventional theatre. His productions are presented at major festivals and cultural institutions worldwide.

Manuela Kerer (Italy/Germany)
Manuela Kerer is an Italian composer based in Innsbruck, recognised for her experimental music theatre and chamber compositions. Holding doctorates in psychology and law, her work often engages with neuropsychological themes. She is Co-Artistic Director of the Munich Biennale and lectures in music pedagogy in Bolzano.

Andrea Caruso Saturnino (Brazil)
Andrea Caruso Saturnino is General Director of Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Brazil’s foremost opera house. With a background in acting and directing, she has led major international productions and co-founded Performas, a production house for contemporary performing arts. She holds a PhD in Performing Arts and serves as Vice President of Opera Latinoamérica.