The nonprofit organizations MUSE and MAESTRA, both of which promote diversity in musical theater, will launch the “MUSE/MAESTRA Music Director Experience” with Broadway’s “Wicked.”
MUSE (Musicians United for Social Equity), dedicated to cultivating racial equity in theatrical music departments by providing support to historically marginalized people of color, and MAESTRA, which offers support, visibility and community for women and nonbinary music professionals in the musical-theater industry, will host a three-week intensive that will provide the recipient one-on-one access to the music team of “Wicked,” including the opportunity to shadow them through rehearsals, auditions and performance.
“MUSE and MAESTRA are dedicated to bringing racial equity to the music-theater industry, as well as to supporting visibility to women and nonbinary musicians and music directors,” said Alex Lacamoire, MUSE founding member, and Judy Yin-Chi Lee, MAESTRA’s chief program officer, in a joint statement. “We are very excited to launch this initiative with ‘Wicked,’ which will give one aspiring music director a hands-on, front-row seat to the work that goes into keeping one of Broadway’s biggest hits in top musical form. Through this exposure, and upcoming experiences at other Broadway musicals, MUSE and MAESTRA aim to foster a more equitable industry and a pipeline for people of color, women and nonbinary musicians to forge careers on Broadway.”
The “Music Director Experience” is open exclusively to NYC (tri-state) area MUSE and MAESTRA directory members who are emerging music directors looking to make a leap in their music-director journeys. This experience will be a three-week intensive shadowing engagement in-person in New York City with a paid weekly stipend. Daily duties will include observing cast rehearsals, viewing performances from both the orchestra pit and the sound board, studying one of the keyboard books from the show and gaining practical playing and conducting experience by working with the music director one on one. Some music-director experience is necessary to be considered. The application deadline will be July 10, 2023 at 11:59pm EDT. Select musician(s) will be notified by July 20, 2023. Those interested in learning more or submitting an application can do so here.
Future installments of the “Music Director Experience” will provide opportunities with “Hamilton,” “The Book of Mormon,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin” and “Moulin Rouge!”
