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Composers, Librettists & Lyricists

The Kleban Prize in Musical Theatre

Kleban Prize
Edward Kleban

Edward Kleban, the lyricist of A Chorus Line and other extraordinary works, created the Kleban Prize in his Will. The prize is given annually to both a librettist and a lyricist. The Board of The Kleban Foundation sets the amount of the prize annually but in recent years it has amounted to the sum of $100,000 in each category, payable in two annual installments.

Kleban designed the prize based on his experience as a promising writer. He was acutely aware that, though composers and musicians may often work within the theater, lyricists and librettists generally have to work outside the theater in order to support their writing. He wanted a prize of sufficient size to allow any promising writer time to write, and thus his creation of the prize flowed from his desire to help worthy others like himself.

The award is administered by New Dramatists on behalf of the The Kleban Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors: André Bishop, Elliot H. Brown, Sheldon Harnick, Richard Maltby, Jr., Richard Terrano, John Weidman and Maury Yeston. For guidelines please visit this page.


Composer-Librettist Studio

The New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio, offered in conjunction with Nautilus Music-Theater, provides an opportunity for five composers to work with five New Dramatists resident writers and professional performers within a fine-tuned framework for collaboration.This nearly round-the-clock intensive explores the possibilities and basic elements of music-theater, with participants rotating working with one another to develop overnight responses to a range of songwriting assignments. The studio is held each year in January or February, and composers from a variety of musical and stylistic backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

For guidelines please visit this page.