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Robert Blau and Steven Hahn, co-chairs; Dana Canedy, administrator

The New York Times

Citation
For exemplary reporting that exposed the breadth and impact of a political war on science, including systematic dismantling of federal regulations and policy.
Tags: 2020
Categories: Public Service

The Washington Post

Citation
For groundbreaking, data-driven journalism that used previously hidden government records and confidential company documents to provide unprecedented insight into America’s deadly opioid epidemic.
Tags: 2020
Categories: Public Service

Michael Torke

Publication
Sky: Concerto for Violin
Citation
Premiered on January 5, 2019, in Troy, N.Y., a composition that merges traditions of bluegrass and classical music through the musical instrument common to both forms, a virtuosic work of astonishing beauty, expert pacing and generous optimism.
Tags: 2020
Categories: Music

Alex Weiser

Publication
and all the days were purple
Citation
Recording released April 12, 2019 by Cantaloupe Music, a song cycle for voice, piano, percussion and string trio, based on poems in Yiddish and English, a meditative and deeply spiritual work whose unexpected musical language is arresting and directly emotional.
Tags: 2020
Categories: Music

Anthony Davis

Citation
Premiered on June 15, 2019 at the Long Beach Opera, a courageous operatic work, marked by powerful vocal writing and sensitive orchestration, that skillfully transforms a notorious example of contemporary injustice into something empathetic and hopeful. Libretto by Richard Wesley.
Tags: 2020
Categories: Music
Publication
The Central Park Five

Michael R. Jackson

Citation
A metafictional musical that tracks the creative process of an artist transforming issues of identity, race, and sexuality that once pushed him to the margins of the cultural mainstream into a meditation on universal human fears and insecurities.
Tags: 2020
Categories: Drama
Publication
A Strange Loop

David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori

Publication
Soft Power
Citation
A multi-layered and mischievous musical that deconstructs a beloved, original American art form to examine the promise and the limits of representation in both the theatrical and political senses of the word.
Tags: 2020
Categories: Drama