Tisch Creative Research is thrilled to have HEAR US alums, Juan Pablo Caicedo Torres, Maiga Vidal, and Jason Wang serving as Application Mentors for HEAR US’s sixth year. Bringing alumni back into the program serves the application process, offering applicants authentic insights into their HEAR US experience as they continue to grow their artistic and scholarly practice.
HEAR US celebrates and advances innovative student projects that enrich our artistic and scholarly community through unique perspectives and inclusive storytelling. The program empowers emerging artists and scholars with the resources, mentorship, and funding they need to bring their distinctive visions to life.
Juan Pablo Caicedo Torres (HEAR US ‘23) focuses on the role of art in social transformation through community-based strategies and cultural politics. His practice spans exhibition-making, pedagogy, and transnational cultural organizing. His HEAR US project, COCAWORLDS, has continued beyond the grant period with an exhibition at the United Nations in New York City and recently a website launch of the project. Learn more about it here.
Maiga Vidal (HEAR US ‘24 & ‘25) is currently developing her HEAR US Project, Café con Leche, in a semester-long workshop at Queen's College alongside her HEAR US Mentor and director, Galia Backal and arranger/orchestrator, Felipe Segovia Sanhueza. There will be an invite-only performance at the end of the semester featuring a 45 minute cut of Café con Leche performed by the students at Queen's College as they prepare for the next step in the musical's journey.
Additionally, Vidal was recently selected for the prestigious Johnny Mercer Writer's Grove at Goodspeed Musicals writing residency with her second show, MISTRAL: A Spanish-English Musical, for which she wrote the English-Spanish Book and Lyrics and Translations. A song from MISTRAL will be featured in the upcoming 54 Below Cabaret, "NYU Tisch’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program Cycle 34" on March 5th, 2026 at 9:30 pm. You can get your tickets for that here.
Jason Wang (HEAR US ‘23) developed their HEAR US project, Stuy or Die, a play exploring the experiences of Asian-American students preparing for the Specialized High School Admissions Test (S.H.S.A.T.) in NYC. After graduating, Wang received additional funding support from The MAP Fund, enabling them to transform Stuy or Die into a NYC-wide community outreach initiative. As part of the outreach, the play toured across the five boroughs to engage directly with New Yorkers. Learn about Stuy or Die.