Bio from https://www.mayamalangonzalez.com/
About the Composer & Librettist
Learn more about Composer Jesse J. Sanchez and Librettist Maya Malán-González.
Jesse J. Sanchez is an award-winning composer-lyricist, librettist, and music director whose work explores culture, heritage, and identity through expansive, emotionally driven musical storytelling. Jesse's art often intertwines family, folklore, and the intersections of tradition and modern life, creating theatrical experiences that celebrate community, resilience, and joy.
Jesse has been honored as a 2025 James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation Spark Artist Award winner ($25,000), a 2026 Kleban Prize finalist for libretto writing, a two-time recipient of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Frank Young Grant, an Opera America Digital Excellence in Opera Award finalist, a Milagro Latino Artist Fund Grant recipient, and a VCCA Fellow.
His work has been developed at the Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals, The Orchard Project (composer-in-residence), New York Theatre Barn, Live & In Color, Musical Theater West, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab, ZACH Theatre, Austin Latinx New Play Festival, Oregon Cabaret, Portland Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in collaboration with PCPA (artist-in residence), and more. It has also been showcased at major regional theaters, off-Broadway, opera houses, and other prestigious venues including the Broadway League’s Jimmy Awards, The Green Room 42 (NYC, sold-out), Playbill, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Show. His music is available on all major streaming platforms, including SiriusXM Broadway and Musical Theatre Radio.
Bio from https://www.jessejsanchez.com/
The work of Maya Malán-González is rooted in collective creation and writing original content. As a lifelong member of Milagro and an ensemble member with Studio Luna, she’s affiliated with companies that uplift Latine culture in American Theatre and center women's voices.
Maya’s written work encompasses holiday plays, educational biographical plays and autobiographical stories. Her love of all things Christmas led her to writing A Xmas Cuento Remix, a modern musical adaptation of a Christmas Carol, which had a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere with Milagro, 16th Street Theater and The Cleveland Public Theatre. Through her relationship with The Cleveland Public Theatre, she was commissioned to write A Christmas Treat, a short rom-com featured in CPT’s production of 10 Minutes to Midnight: 9 Quirky Plays for the Holidays.
To join in on the educational theatre fun, Teatro Milagro commissioned and produced Huelga, a bilingual and educational super Acto about Latina activist and icon Dolores Huerta; Blast Off, a play for young audiences highlighting the achievements of the first Latina astronaut, Ellen Ochoa; and Worry Dolls, focused on mental health in Middle school students.
As an ensemble member with Studio Luna, Maya has been a contributing collaborator for multiple productions. She has three stories in Not So Merry & Bright: A Christmas Mixtape, her story, “Sunshine” was featured in “The Inbetweens” presented at El Centro Del Sur: Latinx Theatre Festival and she was a lead deviser and performer for The Times. Her piece, “Down the Side of the Mountain”, which recounts her journey traveling through Europe, is featured in Teatro Luna’s Audible Original audiobook, “Talking While Female and Other Dangerous Acts”
Maya received her B.F.A in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University with a concentration in Latino Studies and she is a graduate of the NALAC Leadership Institute.