Irving Berlin's incredible songbook remains deeply engrained in the current musical landscape of the US, UK and beyond. Contemporary pop artists who have given their own stamp to his work include Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan, Gregory Porter, Rufus Wainwright, Billie Martin, Herb Alpert, Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Michael Buble, Lily Frost, Sarah McLachlan and most recently Gwen Stefani on her 2017 Christmas album. His music continues to be widely featured in films, commercials and television shows. Lady Gaga sang "God Bless America" at 2017's Super Bowl Halftime Show, whilst Seth MacFarlane covered "Let's Face the Music and Dance" for animated ... read more
Leonard Bernstein was born on August 25, 1918, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He took piano lessons as a boy and attended the Garrison and Boston Latin Schools. At Harvard University, he studied with Walter Piston, Edward Burlingame-Hill, and A. Tillman Merritt, among others. Before graduating in 1939, he made an unofficial conducting debut with his own incidental music to "The Birds," and directed and performed in Marc Blitzstein's "The Cradle Will Rock." Then at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he studied piano with Isabella Vengerova, conducting with Fritz Reiner, and orchestration with Randall Thompson.
In 1940, he studied at the ... read more
Jerry Bock was an American composer best known for his work in musical theater. Born in New Haven, Connecticut on November 23, 1928, Bock showed an early interest in music and began playing the piano at a young age. He studied music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later at the Manhattan School of Music.
Bock's first success in musical theater came in 1955 with the production of "Catch a Star," which he wrote with lyricist Larry Holofcener. However, it was his collaboration with lyricist Sheldon Harnick that would bring him his greatest success. The two first worked together on the ... read more
Cy Coleman was a prolific composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist who made a significant impact on American music and Broadway. Born Seymour Kaufman in 1929 in New York City, Coleman began playing piano at an early age and was soon performing in clubs and bars around the city. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, but his true education came from playing with jazz greats like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
Coleman's first foray into Broadway was with the musical "Wildcat" in 1960, which starred Lucille Ball. The show was not a critical success, ... read more
Betty Comden, born in Brooklyn in 1917, was an American lyricist, screenwriter, and actress. She is best known for her work with Adolph Green, with whom she collaborated on numerous musicals and films.
Comden and Green met in 1938 while both were studying at New York University, and began writing together shortly thereafter. Their first Broadway credit was for On the Town, a musical about three sailors on a 24-hour leave in New York City. The show premiered in 1944 and was a huge success, cementing Comden and Green's place in the world of musical theater.
Comden and Green went on to ... read more
As a writer, lyricist, composer and director, Fred Ebb made incalculable contributions to the New York theatrical community. Mr. Ebb is a Tony, Grammy, Emmy, Olivier and Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award winning recipient. Fred Ebb's first professional songwriting assignment came in 1953 when he and Phil Springer were hired by Columbia Records to write a song for Judy Garland called "Heartbroken." Mr. Ebb was introduced to composer John Kander in 1964 by music publisher Tommy Valando and became one of the most legendary songwriting teams in American history. The first successful collaboration was on the song "My Coloring ... read more
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who was born on December 2, 1914, in the Bronx, New York. He was the son of Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Green's father was a successful businessman, and his mother was a homemaker. Green attended New York University, where he studied English and drama.
Green began his career in show business as a performer in the late 1930s. He appeared in several Broadway productions, including "The New Yorkers" and "Two for the Show." However, it was his work as a lyricist that would make him famous.
Green's first major success as a lyricist came in ... read more
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs.
He is best known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, as the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose musicals include Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. Described by Stephen Sondheim as an "experimental playwright", Hammerstein helped bring the American musical to new ... read more
Sheldon Harnick is a legendary lyricist and composer who has made an indelible mark on Broadway. Born in Chicago in 1924, Harnick began writing songs at a young age, and went on to attend the Northwestern University School of Music. After serving in World War II, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in musical theater.
Harnick's first Broadway credit came in 1955, when he wrote the lyrics for the musical "The Body Beautiful." However, it was his collaboration with composer Jerry Bock that would prove to be his most successful partnership. The duo first worked together on ... read more
Herman is known for his work on Broadway classics such as Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage Aux Folles, Dear World, Mack & Mabel, The Grand Tour, Milk & Honey and many more. He has been nominated for five Tony Awards, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage Aux Folles. He received a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2009, and a Kennedy Center Honors in 2010. ... read more
Burton Lane was an American composer and lyricist, born Morris Hyman Bernstein on February 2, 1912, in New York City. He began his career in the 1930s as a pianist and arranger for various bands, including the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
In 1937, Lane had his first Broadway success with the musical "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," which he co-wrote with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. The show was later adapted into a film starring Barbra Streisand. Lane and Lerner went on to collaborate on several other successful shows, including "Royal Wedding" and "Paint Your Wagon."
One of Lane's most famous ... read more
Alan Jay Lerner wrote some of America's best loved and enduring stage and movie musicals with Frederick Loewe over a period of more than 25 years: Life of the Party, What's Up, The Day Before Spring, Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Camelot and Gigi. He also wrote Love Life with Kurt Weill, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Carmelina with Burton Lane, Coco with Andre Previn, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with Leonard Bernstein and Dance a Little Closer with Charles Strouse. He wrote the libretto and/or lyrics for the following films: An American in Paris, Gigi, ... read more
Bob Merrill was one of the most successful songwriters during the 1950s, with a string of novelty hits such as "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?", “(If I Knew You Were Comin’ Id‘ve) Baked a Cake”, “Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania”, “Mambo Italiano”, “Honeycomb” and “Make Yourself Comfortable”. Longing to write more profound songs, Bob turned his efforts toward the musical theatre. By the late fifties, he had written music and lyrics for Broadway’s “New Girl In Town”, followed by “Take Me Along”, “Carnival”, “Henry, Sweet Henry” and eventually “Funny Girl” featuring the hit songs “People” and “Don’t Rain On My ... read more
Richard Rodgers was an American composer of 43 Broadway musicals, leaving a legacy as one of the most significant composers of 20th century American music. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II. His compositions have had a significant impact on popular music.
Rodgers was the first person to win an EGOT. In addition, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, making him one of only two people to receive all five awards ... read more
Stephen Sondheim is widely acknowledged as the most innovative, most influential, and most important composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history. He is the winner of an Academy Award, numerous Tony Award, multiple Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. Some of his other accolades include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors (1993), the National Medal of Arts (1996), the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal for Music (2006) and a special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre (2008).
Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics for Road Show (2008), Passion (1994), Assassins (1991), Into ... read more
With the scores of such Broadway classics as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, Bells Are Ringing, Gypsy, and Funny Girl to his credit, composer Jule Styne ranks as one of the undisputed architects of the American musical theater.
Born in London's East End on December 31, 1905, Styne's family moved to the United States in 1912. Young Julius showed such a talent for the piano that he had performed with the Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit Symphonies by age 10.
He developed his feel for popular music working with the jazz bands of 1920s Chicago, and as vocal coach to such ... read more
