Awards

About
Selection 2025
Jury 2025
Selection 2023

Awards

The Music Theatre NOW Awards are the leading international platform for new opera and music theatre in first production, bringing together recent works from across the world to map how the field is evolving. Founded in 2008, the initiative is not conceived as a traditional competition but as a selection process that highlights artistic developments, new forms and emerging voices. To date, more than 2,500 world premieres have been submitted, creating a unique overview of contemporary music theatre across continents and production contexts.

An international jury of artists, curators and presenters reviews the submitted works and selects a limited number of productions that stand out for their artistic vision, formal innovation and relevance today. The emphasis lies on visibility, exchange and international circulation. Over the years, selected works have travelled to festivals and venues such as O. Festival Rotterdam, Prototype Festival New York, Wiener Festwochen, MaerzMusik Berlin, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Edinburgh Art Festival and the Shanghai International Contemporary Theatre Festival ACT.

For the 2025 edition, the jury selected seven productions from more than two hundred applications worldwide. The artists are invited to the Music Theatre NOW Conference at O. Festival Rotterdam in May 2026, where they are introduced to an international network of programmers, curators and presenters.

The next call for applications will be launched in Spring 2027 and will consider productions created between Summer 2025 and Summer 2027. Music Theatre NOW continues to function as a meeting point for artists and institutions committed to expanding what music theatre can be today.

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, 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.