Tesori was Tony-nominated for Twelfth Night, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Caroline, or Change and Shrek the Musical. She also composed the music for the recent Broadway play, A Free Man of Color; the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Mother Courage and Her Children, starring Meryl Streep; and the Off-Broadway musical Violet, which received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1997.

In related news, Disney Theatrical Group President Thomas Schumacher will give a keynote address at the festival while Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer Bryan-Michael Cox will take part in a Q&A.

The Junior Theater Festival is the world's largest musical theatre festival dedicated to schools and organizations working with elementary and middle school students.