MIT is pleased to announce that interdisciplinary artist Pamela Z is the recipient of the 2022 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT. The $100K prize awarded at a gala in her honor also includes an artist residency at MIT in spring 2023, during which Pamela Z will perform selections from her work in a concert open to the public on April 19, 2023, then will present a public lecture/demonstration on April 20, 2023. A pioneering composer, performer, and interdisciplinary artist for more than four decades, Pamela has toured to major festivals and venues worldwide. She works with voice, live electronic processing, sampled sound, and video, and is known for using custom music technology, activated by physical gesture, to explore deeply personal themes. This McDermott residency builds on her prior visits to MIT in 2013 and 2016, during which she worked with students, fellow visiting artists, and other members of the campus community.

The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT recognizes innovative talents and is awarded to artists working in any field or cross-disciplinary activity. The $100,000 prize represents an investment in the recipient’s future creative work, rather than a prize for a particular project or lifetime of achievement. The official announcement was made at the Council for the Arts at MIT’s 49th annual meeting at MIT on September 30, 2022, and Pamela Z will be presented with the award at a gala in her honor on April 20, 2023. Past recipients include Thomas Heatherwick, Audra McDonald, David Adjaye, Olafur Eliasson, Robert Lepage, Gustavo Dudamel, Bill Viola, Suzan Lori Parks, and Santiago Calatrava, among others.

Pamela Z will present two Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT public programs:

Concert: April 19, 2023
Artist lecture/demonstration: April 20, 2023


More information: arts.mit.edu/mcdermott