Sigma Alpha Iota

SAI-NATIONAL.ORG SUMMER 2015 PAN PIPES 7 A t the June 2015 Tony Awards Ceremony in New York City, Jeanine Tesori & Lisa Kron became the first female writing pair to win for Best Original Score for the musical Fun Home. e adaptation of a graphic novel memoir by Alison Bechdel also won Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (by Kron), Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role In A Musical, and Best Direction of a Musical. During their acceptance speeches, Tesori stressed the importance of representation of women in music, as creators, mother, and children. My grandfather, Dominic Venta, was a composer in Italy. He came to this country to try to fulfill that dream. He died when my mother was five years old. Working in a gas station.... And I didn't realize that a career in music was available to women until 1981. I saw the magnificent Linda Twine conduct A Lady and Her Music: Lena Horne. And that was my "Ring of Keys" [a song from Fun Home] moment. Which, by the way, that's not a song of love, it's a song of identification, because for girls, you have to see it to be it. And I'm so proud to be standing here with Lisa Kron. We stand on the shoulders of other women who have come before us: Mary Rogers, Tania León [see sidebar], Linda Twine. ank you to my family … is award, I dedicate to all the theater children. We miss your bedtimes. You nap during sound checks. May daughter Sienna Raer is the reason I am here. I never wanted to be an actress, but the role of mother is something that I cherish. ank you so much. Tesori was nominated previously for the scores of Twelh Night, oroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical, and Caroline, or Change. She also composed for Shrek the ird, Tangled, and assorted Disney DVD sequels. Her first original musical, Violet, with book and lyrics by Brian Crawley was produced in 1997. Lisa Kron, an actor and playwright has received playwriting fellowships from the Lortel and Guggenheim Foundations, Sundance eater Lab, the Lark Play Development Center, and the MacDowell Colony, the Cal Arts/Alpert Award, a Helen Merrill Award, and grants from the Creative Capital Foundation and New York Foundation for the Arts. She was a resident playwright at the American Voices New Play Initiative at Arena Stage. COMPOSERS IN THE NEWS C omposer Tania León, initiated as an SAI National Arts Associate by the Northern New Jersey Alumnae Chapter, was selected as one of the IAMA Composer/Judges for the 2012-2015 Competition cycle. She will be in attendance at the 2015 SAI National Convention in St. Louis where her commissioned work will be premiered by the St. Louis Chamber Chorus at the IAMA concert. At the convention, to further acknowledge the careers of women musicians creating scores, Daryle Gardner-Bonneau, former Chairman of SAI Philanthropies, Inc., is presenting a workshop entitled "Music for Films and Television: Women Composers Break rough." Women Take The Tony

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