| Jul 07, 2008 |

JOEL B. NEW is a composer, lyricist, bookwriter, arranger, dramaturge, vocal coach, and performer based in New York. He is the proud recipient of a 2008 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Grant. Mr. New holds a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre Performance from Oklahoma City University's Bass School of Music (magna cum laude) and a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (Tisch Scholar). In 2003, OCU staged the premiere of New's first full-length musical, You & My Heart, for which he wrote the book, music, and lyrics. Since then, his songs have been performed across the country in recitals, master classes, concerts, festivals, cabarets, and a songbook revue entitled Something New. Joel's current projects include Looking Around, Looking Back, an album musical with vocalist TJ Moss and director Jessica Hutchinson; Stand Clear, a theatrical song cycle; and Awakening, a musical based on Kate Chopin's 1899 novella with J. Oconer Navarro. Under the direction of Jen Bender, Awakening has received a 2008 NYU-Tisch Alumni Development Grant made possible by the Frederick Loewe Foundation and the 2006 Margo Lion Award for Outstanding Adaptation.

| Jul 07, 2008 |

I write for the musical theatre in order to connect with people -- to explore, reveal, question and even challenge the emotional experiences that make up the human condition.  I write to attract, not distract.  I believe that musical theatre is at its highest form when the writing is honest and cathartic without sacrificing a sense of form or craft.  It is my artistic and personal endeavor to bring audiences work of this caliber while simultaneously pushing musical theatre forward as a collaborative art form.