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Victoria
Bussert,
head
of
BW's
music
theatre
program,
has
been
honored
for
her
phenomenal
work
with
a
2019
Cleveland
Arts
Prize
Mid-Career
Artist
Award.
Now
in
its
59th
year,
the
Cleveland
Arts
Prize
is
the
nation's
oldest
municipal
arts
award,
annually
celebrating
exceptional
artists
in
Northeast
Ohio.
Cleveland Arts Prize recognizes artists in literature, dance, theater and visual art with emerging artist, mid-career and lifetime achievement awards. The winners will receive their awards and the $10,000 prize attached to them at a ceremony in September.
Cleveland Arts Prize Executive Director Alenka Banco shared in the awards announcement, "It's more than a monetary prize to artists who are doing great work. It's really about a family and it's about Cleveland's legacy."
Bussert has been directing theatrical productions for more than 30 years, including staging not only musicals, but also operas, concerts and tours both across the nation and abroad. In addition to directing the music theatre program at BW, Bussert is also a resident director at Great Lakes Theater and the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.
"She's a powerhouse. The kids and the students that are coming out of her program are really on a national and an international stage," Banco said of Bussert in the awards announcement.
A feature in The Plain Dealer notes the arts prize prize jury "praised her both for directing and teaching."
Colton Ryan '17, hired on Broadway before his graduation, told the newspaper. "She's tough in all the right ways. She's tenacious about your potential and passion."
"It is truly an honor to be awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize," Bussert says. "Mid-career to me means I still have a lot of work to do!"
