Photo by Daniel Zajicek.
JOHN GRIMMETT (he/him/his) is a nationally recognized composer-lyricist, playwright, librettist, and director whose original works have been performed internationally and at prominent institutions such as the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, Houston Grand Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Nautilus Music-Theatre, and universities including NYU, Indiana University, and the University of Houston. His writing spans chamber opera, art song, musical theatre, and straight plays, and his collaborations include projects with acclaimed artists and composers such as Emil Miland, Avner Dorman, Daniel Zajicek, Ann Moss, and the Hausmann Quartet, among others.
Grimmett holds a B.M. in Music Education from the University of Houston and an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is a recipient of the ASCAP Foundation’s Max Dreyfus Award for promising musical theatre composers. His works have been staged Off-Broadway, in national and regional theatres, and frequently in educational theatre and UIL One Act Play competitions across Texas.
In parallel with his writing, Grimmett has built a dynamic career as an arts educator since 2015. He currently serves as Head Theatre Director at Alvin High School and Lead Theatre Teacher for Alvin ISD, overseeing curriculum development, season planning, design, and production. His leadership has earned multiple state-level recognitions, including UIL One Act Play State and Regional Finalist placements and Texas Thespians Premier Community for Theatre Education awards. He has also served as an adjunct professor at San Jacinto College and currently teaches Playwriting at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX.
A highly sought after clinician and artist, Grimmett has shared his expertise at TheatreFest, TxETA SummerFest, and the Texas Thespians Educator Conference on topics ranging from new play development to rehearsal techniques and advocacy. His professional affiliations include the Dramatists Guild of America, Educational Theatre Association, and the Texas Educational Theatre Association, where he currently serves as Chair of the K-12 Committee and sits on the Board of Directors.
“A composer with a real theatrical sense: these scenes, looking so simple on the page, work in the theater — powerful, evocative, unequivocal, emotional… some ideas, some motivic ideas especially, linger in the consciousness. Grimmett is gifted, of this there is no doubt. His theatrical sense is as rare as it is palpable.”