The Vanguard Award & Residency is an award and yearlong residency that celebrates the career of a singular artist who has contributed to American life and pop culture and is a part of the Joe’s Pub family of artists. This artist also sustains and leads their own artistic community while creating a body of work that stands apart from their peers. Additionally, the award answers to the music industry’s widening gaps in funding.
The 2022-2023 Joe’s Pub Vanguard Residency is dedicated to the memory of singer and vocal coach Barbara Maier Gustern, who directly and indirectly influenced innumerable performers in New York City and within the Joe’s Pub community. Ms. Gustern’s legacy of generosity, skilled technique, and joie de vivre will be celebrated throughout 2022-2023 season.
The Vanguard Residency series dedicated the memory of Barbara Maier Gustern:
Julian Fleisher: Four Seasons of Julian Fleisher | September 24, 2022
Machine Dazzle: Treasure | October 21, 2022
Penny Arcade: The Art of Becoming – Memories from a Long Exile at the Edge of Society. Episode 3 – 1967-1973: Superstar Interrupted | November 29 - December 1, 2022
Justin Vivian Bond: Oh Mary, it's Christmas! | December 16-18, 20-23, 2022
A Murray Little Christmas | December 13 - 17, 2022
Salty Brine: Bigmouth Strikes Again | January 12-20, 2023
Carol Lipnik: Heaven | March 2, 2023
A "Proper" Natti Vogel Concert | May 10, 2023
The Hot Sardines | May 30 & 31, 2023
Additional shows to be announced.
The 2018 Vanguard Award and Residency was awarded to Nona Hendryx. In 2019 the Vanguard Award & Residency was awarded to Judy Collins. In 2020 the Vanguard Award and Residency was awarded to Laurie Anderson, whose residency was interrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic and continued until 2022.
Learn more!
Nona Hendryx
Grammy Award-nominated funk, art rock and new wave pioneer Nona Hendryx was the inaugural recipient of the Joe’s Pub Vanguard Residency. Joe’s Pub honored her career as a performer, producer, writer, curator, innovator and mentor, with a year of monthly programming in 2018. From January through December, Hendryx curated and/or performed in shows that featured not only her body of work, but those of the many multidisciplinary artists who she has influenced (and who continue to influence her).
Judy Collins
Judy Collins has inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 55-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century. Collins is the 2019 recipient of the Joe's Pub Vanguard Award & Residency.
Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson is one of America’s most renowned and daring creative pioneers. She is best known for her multimedia presentations and innovative use of technology. As writer, director, visual artist, and vocalist, she has created groundbreaking works that span the worlds of art, theater, and experimental music. Anderson has published seven books and her visual work has been presented in major museums around the world. She is the 2020 recipient of the Joe's Pub Vanguard Award & Residency.
Barbara Maier Gustern
Barbara Maier Gustern exerted an improbable influence over New York’s overlapping music scenes, guiding cabaret performers, stage actors and rock stars to get the most out of their voices. [She was] the grandmother who wore dominatrix gear to perform as a go-go dancer at a playwright’s birthday party; who left her friends in the dust as she ran to catch a subway; who danced on top of a table at the cabaret theater Joe’s Pub.
-- The New York Times