Composer Rucyl Mills wins the 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize

Composer Rucyl Mills is the 2025 winner of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize, which includes a six-week Hermitage Residency and a $35,000 commission to create an original work of music. 

The work created by Mills will have its first public presentation in Sarasota in 2027.

“Amidst a remarkable field of four brilliant finalists, Rucyl Mills emerged as an ambitious and original musical voice who impressed the jury with her innovative and forward-thinking proposal," said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg in a statement. 

Courtesy image

Added Sandberg: "Her genre-bending approach to the musical art form embodies the mission of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize: to bring into the world works of art that have a significant impact on the broad as well as the artistic culture of our society.”

The three finalists for the Hermitage Greenfield Prize include Samora Pinderhughes, Xenia Rubinos and Conrad Tao, each of whom will receive a $1,000 prize and a Hermitage Residency. 

The residency comes with the requirement that Hermitage Fellows perform a show for the local community, either on the beach of the Hermitage Retreat in Englewood or at venues in downtown Sarasota such as Marie Selby Botanical Gardens or the lawn of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. Fellows who meet each other at the Hermitage often collaborate in stimulating cross-genre presentations. 

The jurors for the 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize are Amy Cassello, artistic director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Lia Camille Crockett, music curator for NPR and the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, and founder of Parcha Projects; and Robert Spano, Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer.

The $35,000 Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission is awarded annually by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation of Philadelphia. It rotates among music, theater, and visual art.

Past winners include Deepa Purohit ("Elyria") playwright (2024), Rennie Harris, choreographer (2023), Angélica Negrón, composer/instrumentalist (2022) and Nilo Cruz ("Anna in the Tropics"), playwright (2014), to name just a few.

The 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Award dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 6, at Michael's On East. For information about tickets and sponsorships, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org. This year's co-chairs are Robyn and Charles Citrin and Arthur Sicilliano and B.Aline Blanchard.