Larson Legacy Concert to Showcase 2021 Recipients At Adelphi PAC

The Larson Legacy Concert featuring the 2021 recipients of the Jonathan Larson Grants, Shayok Misha Chowdhury and Laura Grill Jaye, will take place at Adelphi University Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Saturday, April 9. Chowdhury and Grill Jaye make up the musical-writing duo "Grill and Chowder." A talented cast joins the grant-winning duo on stage as part of the exciting concert.

Chowdhury is a writer, director and music-maker. Grill Jaye is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, improviser, educator, performer and music director. Their work has been seen or developed at Ars Nova, New York Theatre Workshop, SPACE on Ryder Farm, NYMF, HERE Arts Center, and Joe's Pub @ The Public Theater.

Chowdhury and Grill Jaye have written many musicals together including the recent "How The White Girl Got Her Spots And Other 90s Trivia" (Joe's Pub, Ars Nova.) Their current collaboration, "Blood Oleander," reimagines a century-old Bengali drama in Tennessee coal country.

The Larson Legacy Concert Series celebrates the next generation of artists at the college home of the creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical "RENT," Jonathan Larson, who graduated from Adelphi in 1982. Each year, the American Theatre Wing presents emerging creators of musical theatre with The Jonathan Larson Grants.

Chowdhury is currently writing "Public Obscenities" (Soho Rep, NAATCO), a new bilingual play, and "Rheology (HERE Arts)," a concert-memoir-physics-symposium. His recent works include Brother, Brother (New York Theatre Workshop) with Aleshea Harris and "Mukhagni" (Under the Radar) with Kameron Neal. Chowdhury is also the creator of "Vichitra," a series of sound-driven, cinematic experiments including In Order To Become (Bushwick Starr), which he is developing into a queer Carnatic opera. He was a soloist and collaborator on the Grammy-winning album "Calling All Dawns" and has been awarded fellowships from Sundance, Fulbright, NYSCA/NYFA, Jerome, New York Theatre Workshop, and Kundiman. He received his MFA in Directing Theater from Columbia University.

With the Laura Grill Band, Grill Jaye has written and produced two records, "Never Before" and "Tell All Your Friend" and toured nationally. The Boston Globe called her original music "jump jazz, barroom rock, chamber folk, and downright infectious." She has collaborated with Jacob Collier, Audra McDonald, Luciana Souza and Jason Moran. Grill Jaye received her MM in Jazz Studies from New England Conservatory and her BM in Jazz Voice and Composition from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. She is on faculty at Meridian Academy in Boston and MIT's Music and Theater Arts program.

The cast for the concert also includes Max Chernin, Fima Chupakhin, Matt Consul, Tomas Cruz, Saskia Lane, Geena Quintos, Terran Scott, Kristen Sieh and Vuyo Sotashe.

The Larson Legacy Concert takes place at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, at the Olmsted Theatre at Adelphi's PAC Concert Hall. The show will also be livestreamed for those unable to attend in person.

Tickets are $25, with discounts available to seniors, students, alumni and employees. Livestream access is $15. For more information, call the Lucia and Steven N. Fischer Box Office at 516-877-4000 or email boxoffice@adelphi.edu. The box office is open Tuesday through Friday from 1 to 6 p.m. and is also open two hours before most scheduled performances. Ticket sales, livestreaming details, and additional information are available online.

Adelphi PAC is one of Long Island's premier cultural arts venues for entertainment of all kinds. See more about other upcoming Adelphi PAC offerings at pac.adelphi.edu.

Important COVID Protocols: Our priority is to ensure the safety of our patrons, artists, staff and the entire Adelphi community against COVID-19. Thanks to the success of masks, vaccines, and tests in reducing the COVID-19 infection rate to new lows, we are no longer requiring guests to show proof of vaccination or a negative test when attending a performance at Adelphi. Masks are still required at all times while inside the PAC. We ask that everyone follow ongoing health guidelines to stay home if they have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days, knowingly been in close contact with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (or is experiencing symptoms and awaiting test results), or are feeling sick (especially with a fever) yourself.

These policies will remain in place until further notice and are subject to change at any time. Feel free to contact the box office with any questions.

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