Shimmering...Expressive...Powerful
— The New York Times
 
 

BIO

ASCAP Award-Winning Singer-Songwriters ANYA TURNER and ROBERT GRUSECKI are advancing the art of piano/vocal music through songwriting, recording, publishing and live performance. Two-time finalists for the Richard Rodgers Award for excellence in writing for the musical theatre, Anya & Robert are proud recipients of The ASCAP Foundation 2022 Jamie deRoy & friends Songwriting Award "recognizing work of a high and consistent professionalism, dedication, and craftsmanship" as well as a 2022 Anna Sosenko Assist Trust grant. They were also honorees of the 2017 Bistro Award for Outstanding Songwriting citing "a successful career of writing and performing an impressive catalogue of freshly original material."

Together, they have written two full-length musicals: GREETINGS FROM YORKVILLE, presented at the SoHo Playhouse and directed by Thommie Walsh & Baayork Lee and AFTER ALL, a musical much ado presented at The York Theatre Company.

This dynamic duo has created nine studio recordings of their songs: MID-CENTURY MODERN, IN THIS RAGGEDY TIME, LISTEN, DREAM ON, LABOR OF LOVE, A PARTY, GREETINGS FROM YORKVILLE, YOU LOVED ME, and ORDINARY PEOPLE. They have also published eight songbooks and in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, the team published a compendium of their lyrics, essays, photos and monologues in a 301-page colorful coffee-table book, WORDS MATTER. A & R’s #SongsOfComfort Project included fifteen pandemic YouTube videos together with a new songbook.

The team has performed at Lincoln Center, Off-Broadway and in nightclubs and cabarets in New York City and across the U.S. Recent live shows include LOOK UP (their highly acclaimed 4-character revue) and the award-winning shows HELLO WEST 46th STREET and IN THIS RAGGEDY TIME. Their songs have been performed world-wide by such notable artists as Donna McKechnie, Karen Akers, and Steve Ross and by outstanding choral ensembles including the Broadway Community Chorus (NAAP) and the GenOUT Teen Chorus of Washington, DC.

New album coming soon ~ August 1, 2023

QUOTES

"Consummate artists. A brilliantly talented duo." ~ Victoria Krane, The Lee Strasberg Institute

"Always loved the 'finger on the pulse' aspect of their work…often surprising." ~ Karen Akers

"Anya & Robert dare to be profound and relay simple truths." ~ Talkin’ Broadway

"Turner & Grusecki have been ardently creating content since the first week of quarantine and never fail in their efforts." ~ Broadway World

"Wistful, comic, lovely" ~ The New Yorker

"Astonishing, Gorgeous, A Triumph! ~ R. Windeler, Bistro Awards

"Smart, lively, and stylish. Turner & Grusecki continue a cabaret tradition that once flourished . . . like Nichols and May, Comden and Green, and Blossom Dearie, Anya & Robert bring back the magic." ~ Bart Greenberg, Nitelife Exchange

"Turner & Grusecki have turned in one of the season's brightest scores and it is utterly delightful. They've even written a primer on how to write a song, and believe me, they know how!" ~ Peter Filichia, Kritzerland

"A common wisdom states that, in writing, universality can come from well-etched detail. You get that with Anya and Robert. Add to that sensitive, honest, down-to-earth singing, and more than a touch of class." ~ Rob Lester, Talkin' Broadway

"Beautiful, unusual music. Haunting and revelatory. Truly distinctive. ~ Donna Murphy, actor-singer

"Wondrous. It's inspiring to hear NEW well-crafted and sensitive material. ~ Maureen McGovern, recording artist

"Beautiful. What a revelation: the writing, the soul, the voice. It is a true delight." ~ Amanda McBroom, singer-songwriter

"An amazing songwriting partnership whose work I instantly fell in love with." ~ M. Shenton, The Stage UK

"Terrific! Smart and good and pretty all at once. ~ George Furth, playwright