Over the last decade, Willems has become the most produced playwright of Theater for Young Audiences in America, having written or co-written four musicals based on his books. He began his career as a writer and animator on PBS’s Sesame Street, where he garnered six Emmy Awards (writing). Other television work includes two series on Cartoon Network: Sheep in the Big City (creator and head writer) and Codename: Kids Next Door (head writer). Willems is creating new TV projects for HBOMax, where his live action comedy special Don’t Let the Pigeon Do Storytime! currently streams.

Folds released his first book – a collection of interrelated essays, anecdotes and lessons about art, life and music - in 2019, which debuted as a New York Times Best Seller, and is currently hosting a podcast series spinoff of his book entitled Lightning Bugs: Conversations with Ben Folds. In addition to solo rock and orchestral touring, he is also developing a new unscripted TV series with Fred Rogers Productions, continues to appear in various film/tv guest-starring roles, and is working on new music.

An avid photographer, Folds is also a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery, has worked as an assignment photo editor for National Geographic, and was featured in a mini-documentary by the Kennedy Center’s Multimedia team on his photographic work.

An outspoken champion for arts education and music therapy funding in our nations public schools, has served for over five years as an active member of the distinguished Artist Committee of Americans For The Arts (AFTA), and serves on the Board of AFTA’s Arts Action Fund. He also served as Chairman of the Arts Action Fund’s ArtsVote2020 national initiative that encouraged voter engagement in the 2020 U.S. elections, and continually advocates for improving public policies for the arts and arts education.

She is a long-time collaborator of author/illustrator Mo Willems and has worked as the producer, dramaturg, and/or director on his musicals, interactive engagements, and other live and televised performance work. Alrutz is currently the dramaturg on Mo Willems’ artistic residencies and productions with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and HBO Max. She is also a professor and associate chair at The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Theatre and Dance where she writes and teaches about Theatre for Young Audiences, Applied Theatre, and Digital Storytelling.

REGIONAL: The Atlanta Opera: The Threepenny Opera, Cabaret; The Glimmerglass Festival: The Cunning Little Vixen, La bohéme, Ariadne in Naxos, Odyssey, Wilde Tales, Trouble in Tahiti, The Flying Dutchman; Opera Southwest: Lohengrin; Actor’s Express Atlanta: Les Liaisons Dangereuses; AWARDS: one Helen Hayes Award, two Susi Bass Awards. www.erikteaguedesign.com

This season, Lopez-Yañez will collaborate with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Nas, Leslie Odom Jr., Stewart Copeland of The Police, Ben Folds, Kenny G, Jennifer Nettles, and more. Lopez-Yañez will appear with the Cinncinatti Pops, Dallas Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Pacific Symphony San Diego Symphony, and will make return appearances with the Detroit Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, and Sarasota Symphony, among others.

As Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Symphonica Productions, LLC, Lopez-Yañez curates and leads programs designed to cultivate new audiences. An enthusiastic proponent of innovating the concert experience, his exciting education, classical, and pops concerts are performed by orchestras across the United States.

Glover has been privileged to work as Guest Artist with the New York Pops, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City Center, the National Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Caramoor Music Festival, Calgary Philharmonic, Sun Valley Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the Smith Center in Las Vegas.

TV & Film projects include: Inventing Anna on Netflix, Evil Season 2 on Paramount Plus, BULL, Black Box, The Following, Hostages, Smash, The Good Wife, White Collar, Golden Boy, Law & Order, Made In Jersey, and the independent feature film Broken Soldier. Glover has enjoyed numerous commercial campaigns, voiceovers, narration and animated characters for television, gaming, film, and new media.

Glover has served as a member of the Artists’ Committee for the Kennedy Center Honors and Lincoln Center Theater, is a New York PopsEd Ambassador, a Judge for the National Highschool Music Theatre Awards (the Jimmy’s) and is a member of the Broadway Green Alliance.@MontegoGlover 
www.MontegoGlover.com

His other Broadway credits include Finding Neverland (J.M. Barrie), Chicago (Billy Flynn), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Phil Davis), Gypsy with Patti LuPone (Tulsa; Outer Critics Circle nomination), A Chorus Line (Al), Oklahoma!, and Never Gonna Dance. Off-Broadway credits include A Chorus Line (City Center), The Cradle Will Rock (Classic Stage), The Beast in the Jungle (Vineyard Theatre), The Scarlet Pimpernel and Crazy For You (both at David Geffen Hall), Fanny Hill (York Theatre), and for New York City Center Encores! he has appeared in Little Me, On the Town, Gypsy, The Apple Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and Pardon My English. 

Regional theatre credits include Alliance, Barrington, Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Goodman, The Muny (St. Louis), Goodspeed (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Signature (Helen Hayes Award), Trinity Rep, Paper Mill, and Old Globe. Yazbeck starred internationally in Kiss Me, Kate at the Royal Albert Hall in London under the baton of John Wilson.

His television and film credits include The Good Fight, Billions, Smash, and the feature documentary Every Little Step. In concert he has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas; Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops under the baton of Steven Reineke; with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap with Michael Barrett; he was featured on the PBS Great Performances special The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and he was most recently featured on PBS with The Kennedy Center at 50.

Yazbeck also stars in his own song and dance show. He recently premiered his solo concert at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. His debut album, The Floor Above Me, has been released digitally and on CD by PS Classics.  He will also make is New York directorial debut with Jekyll and Hyde at David Geffen Hall in 2023.

Andrew holds a Master of Fine Arts in performance pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University, and will be graduating from George Mason University’s master’s in social work program in May of 2022. Upon graduation, he will be a supervisee-in-social work providing psychotherapy services at Woodbridge Therapy Group. Wynn wants to thank his family and friends for their immeasurable support throughout his life. He is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actor’s Equity.

Thank you to her husband and the father of her beautiful children, Patrick, who is a better father than she could have ever hoped for. She is excited to get to play with this incrdible cast, Ben, Mo, and the NSO. Special thank you to David Kilpatrick and the hardworking and dedicated Kennedy Center Education team. If you want to know more about Erika and her work, visit her website: www.erikarose.com. Instagram: @erikarose.art

He performed across the country—and recorded multiple albums and public radio specials—as a member of the Capitol Steps, a political satire group that was a Washington, D.C. institution for nearly 40 years. Other work includes a variety of commercials, television, and films, including HBO’s upcoming mini-series We Own This City. His voice can be heard on numerous audio book recordings for Graphic Audio, on the recent hit podcasts Circle Round and Who, When, Wow!, and on the original cast recordings of Elephant and Piggie’s We Are In A Play and Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus.

OTHER REGIONAL: Bristol Riverside Theatre: A Comedy of Tenors; Virginia Rep: Cinderella; Artistree Music Theatre Festival: Forever Plaid. MUSIC DIRECTION: Constellation Theatre: Caucasian Chalk Circle; Adventure Theatre: Make Way for Ducklings (world premiere); We Happy Few: The Tempest; others. CONCERT: On The Town with the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, Around the World in 80 Days with The American Pops. Ben is a member of the Opera/Rock mash-up tribute group The Jersey Tenors. Visit him at www.benlurye.com, IG: @ben_lurye_sings_high. UPCOMING: Music Direction of Fantastagirl and the Math Monster at Adventure Theatre.

Since its founding in 1931, the NSO has been committed to performances that enrich the lives of its audience and community members. In 1986, the National Symphony became an artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where it has performed since the Center opened in 1971. The 96-member NSO participates in events of national and international importance, including the annual nationally televised concerts on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, live-streamed performances from the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on medici.tv, and local radio broadcasts on Classical WETA 90.9 FM.

The NSO builds on its recording legacy with its eponymous label that launched in 2020. Since launching, the National Symphony Orchestra has garnered praise for its ambitious recording projects including the orchestra’s first complete Beethoven Symphony cycle and the release of the first-ever cycle of George Walker’s Sinfonias, both led by Music Director Gianandrea Noseda.

Additionally, the NSO’s community engagement and education projects are nationally recognized, including NSO In Your Neighborhood, an annual week of performances in schools, churches, community centers, and other unexpected venues; Notes of Honor, which offers free performances for active, veteran, prior service, and retired members of the military and their families; and Sound Health, a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its affiliated organizations. Career development opportunities for young musicians include the NSO Youth Fellowship Program and its acclaimed, tuition-free Summer Music Institute.