Meet the Presenters and Peace Award Recipients of the Ninth Annual World Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation

Hartley Nauss: Presenter, Call to Prayer in the Quaker Tradition

Hartley Nauss is 16 years old and attends International Academy where he is a sophomore.  He is a member of Birmingham Friends Meeting.  His interests include drama, anime, history, and Tai Kwon Do.

Peace Award Recipient: Susan Cucuzza

Susan Cucuzza is a singing member and Board member of the Rackham Symphony Choir. Susan co-produced the original film, The Armed Boy. Susan performed in the concert production of the The Armed Man: A Concert for Peace and as well as many works with the Rackham Symphony Choir over the last seven years. She previously was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, performing with the Cleveland Orchestra at venues including Severence Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Edinburgh Festival. Susan has performed under noted conductors including Leonard Slatkin, Sir Simon Rattle, Robert Shaw, Pierre Boulez, Kent Nagano, Christoph von Dohnanyi and Franz Welser-Most. Susan is a human resources executive residing in Birmingham , Michigan.

Peace Award Recipient: Thomas Cucuzza

Thomas Cucuzza is a singing member and Board member of the Rackham Symphony Choir. He produced the original film, The Armed Boy and the concert production of The Armed Man: A Concert for Peace. Tom was inspired by the potential of multi-media choral presentations following Rackham Symphony Choir's 2006 performance of Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light with simultaneous projection of Carl Dreyer's silent film masterpiece, The Passion of Joan of Arc. He approached his brother Robert in April 2006 with the idea of collaborating on a multi-media concert project around Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man and Robert proposed the idea of creating an original film. The Armed Boy is Tom's first project as a film producer and first major collaboration with his brother, Robert. Tom is a management consultant residing in Birmingham , Michigan.

Peace Award Recipient: Robert Cucuzza

Robert Cucuzza is a filmmaker, theater artist, actor and acting teacher. Robert wrote and directed the original film, The Armed Boy. As a filmmaker, he has written and directed four other films. As a film actor, he has played lead roles in many films. As a theater actor, he has performed in New York and across the U.S. and Europe , including the current international touring production of Gatz. As a playwright, theater director and producer, he spent six years as an artist-in-residence at the Ontological Theater in New York City where he mounted many plays. As an acting teacher, he has taught popular classes in New York City and in his home state of Pennsylvania . In 2006 he founded ACME Acting Lab. Robert resides in Beacon, New York.