"Multilingualism is the only path to develop new audiences in our field, so we are hopeful, that 'Azul' can be one more step toward linguistic inclusion in the American theatre." - Jacinta Clusellas, Tatiana Pandiani & Melis Aker

The Jonathan Larson Grant is an unconditional annual investment in individual talent. The grant is awarded to musical theatre composers, lyricists, and librettists, or writing teams, early in their career, to support artistic endeavors and safeguard long-term music writing careers.

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About Jacinta Clusellas, Tatiana Pandiani and Melis Aker
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Since meeting over ten years ago in New York City, Jacinta Clusellas, Melis Aker, and Tatiana Pandiani have cultivated a friendship and artistic collaboration resulting in the original, bilingual, and Latin American musical, AZUL.

The project began after Clusellas released her debut album “El Pájaro Azul” in 2015. The album, inspired by Ruben Darío’s short stories and poems, captivated Pandiani who immediately knew it to be fertile source material for an original book musical, and recruited Aker to join the writing team. Since then, the three women have grown alongside the project and have taken it to renowned venues across the United States.

AZUL has been developed with support from institutions such as the National Music Theatre Conference at the O’Neill Center, New York Theatre Workshop, The Drama League, National Alliance of Musical Theatre (NAMT), The Catwalk Institute, Goodspeed Writer Grove / Johnny Mercer Foundation, Tofte Lake Center. The team has also received fellowships and residencies from the Dramatist Guild, the Westben Center, Ars Nova Play Group, BRICLab Brooklyn and the Brush Creek Foundation. Over the years, AZUL has also received support from the Shen Family Foundation Grant.

In 2020, after receiving a grant from the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, the team recorded their EP Reservoir Studios, featuring orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire (Sweeney Todd, Hamilton, In the Heights, Dear Evan Hansen) & Kurt Crowley (Freestyle Love Supreme, Bring It On, The Color Purple, tik tik BOOM). You can listen on Spotify.

AZUL in concert has been presented at Joe’s Pub at the Public theatre, 54 Below, Musical Theater Factory, the Prelude Festival at the Elebash Recital Hall. For more information and upcoming presentations please visit www.azulthemusical.com.