Jonathan Sheffer

Last updated
Jonathan Sheffer
Jonathan Sheffer.jpg
Background information
Born (1953-10-19) October 19, 1953 (age 70)
New York City, U.S.
Genres Film music, classical, opera, musical theater
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • composer
  • conductor
  • author
Instrument(s)Piano
Years active1975–present
Labels RCA Red Seal

BMG

Telarc

Jonathan Sheffer (born 1953) is a Grammy-nominated American composer and conductor. [1] [2] [3] [4] His musical career spans several genres, including classical music, opera, ballet, film and television. [5] [6]

Contents

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Sheffer was raised in Westport, Connecticut, studied viola with Frank Brieff, and played Principal Viola in the All-Connecticut High School Orchestra. He attended Harvard University, where his teachers included Leonard Bernstein, Jay Gottlieb and Burton Fine. He co-composed the score to the Hasty Pudding Theatricals of 1974, Keep Your Pantheon with humorist Mark O’Donnell, then attended Juilliard Extension and the Aspen School of Music, studying with Michael Czajkowski, solfège with Renée Longy and composition with John Corigliano. [7] [8]

Career

Theatrical work: New York (1975–83)

While attending the BMI Musical Theater Workshop, he teamed up with O’Donnell to write a revue that appeared in 1977 at the Spoleto USA festival, Caught In The Act. With lyricist Alan Poul, he created New Tunes at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and a musical, Ladies in Waiting with Patricia Resnick [9] and with David Zippel, Going Hollywood, [10] and songs for Diamonds, with lyricist Howard Ashman, which also appeared in 2011 off-Broadway in the show, Hundreds of Hats.

Film and television: New York to Los Angeles (1984–1993)

Sheffer composed scores for the PBS American Playhouse films, The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket, On Valentine's Day, Courtship, Bloodhounds Of Broadway, In a Shallow Grave, and completed Danny Elfman’s score for the film, Darkman, The Omen IV, Pure Luck (also with Elfman), and Encino Man. He conducted recording sessions for Elfman and Elliot Goldenthal, including Alien3, Batman Returns, Interview with the Vampire, Batman Forever, Heat, Batman and Robin, Sphere, In Dreams, Titus, Across The Universe, and others. [11] [12]

Conductor (1993–present)

He studied with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Jorma Panula, Yuri Simonov, Jorge Mester and Tsung Yeh. Early engagements included the orchestras of San Diego, Oregon, Seattle, Minneapolis and London, appearing with David Byrne in programs of Wagner, Corigliano and Adams. Other early appearances included the European Youth Orchestra and at the Edinburgh Festival with of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

In 1995 Sheffer founded the Eos Ensemble (later called Eos Orchestra), [13] [14] playing 75 concerts in New York and on tour, appearing at the White House in 2000 [15] and in the 2000 PBS American Masters portrait of Aaron Copland. Eos published four books and recorded for RCA Red Seal, BMG and Telarc, was Grammy-nominated, [16] and received the ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award in 1999. [17]

Concurrently, Sheffer led six seasons of Red {an orchestra} in Cleveland, [18] and was guest conductor at The New York City Opera, American Ballet Theatre, Mark Morris Dance Group, Boston Pops and the festivals at Ravinia, Lincoln Center and Spoleto (Italy). Sheffer has served on several Boards, including The New York State Council on the Arts, as an appointee of governor Andrew Cuomo, [19] the New York City Opera, and represented the New York City Council to the Board of Lincoln Center.

Composer

Major works include the one-act The Mistake, libretto by Stephen Wadsworth, which premiered at the Central City Opera. Blood on the Dining Room Floor, from a novel by Gertrude Stein, was produced off-Broadway in 2000, received the Richard Rodgers Production Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters [20] and was seen in the Guggenheim Works & Process series. The Conference of the Birds, at the Cabrillo Festival, was led by Marin Alsop, [21] and Four 10-Minute Operas (Camera Obscura, HBP, Owl Creek Bridge and The Pat & Jerry Show) was recorded in September, 2023 by Royal Scottish National Orchestra, for release in 2024.

Sheffer has had fellowships at Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony, [22] and was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome in 2003, and was a Visiting Artist/Professor at UCLA, Harvard and New York University.

The musical Dirty Little Secret, about the Harvard Secret Court of 1920, with music and lyrics in collaboration with Bruce Roberts, is in development.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleDirectorFilm studio
1988 In a Shallow Grave Kenneth Bowser Warner Bros.
1989 Bloodhounds of Broadway Howard Brookner Columbia Pictures
1991 The Omen IV: The Awakening Jorge Montesi and Dominique Othenin-Girard 20th Century Fox
Pure Luck Nadia Tass Universal Studios
1992 Encino Man Les Mayfield Buena Vista Pictures
2008 Parasomnia William Malone E1 Entertainment
2010Mann v. FordMaro Chermayeff and Micah Fink HBO
2014 The Decent One Vanessa Lapa Cinephil
2016Saving Jamaica BayDavid SigalGrounded Truth Productions

Discography

Music by Jonathan Sheffer

YearTitleLabelNotes
1988 In a Shallow Grave Varèse Sarabande Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, composer and conductor
1991 The Omen IV: The Awakening Varèse Sarabande Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, composer and conductor
Pure Luck Varèse Sarabande Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, composer and conductor
2008 Howard Sings Ashman PS Classics "The Straw Boater Rag" from Diamonds. Jonathan Sheffer, composer
2016Concerto for Soprano Saxophone & OrchestraNavona RecordsSwedish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Petter Sundkvist, conductor. Anders Paulsson, soprano saxophone
The Conference of the BirdsNavona RecordsMoravian Philharmonic Orchestra with Jonathan Sheffer, conductor. Joyce DiDonato, narrator
2019Y'did Nefesh (SATB)Navona RecordsRecorded by The Crossing, Donald Nally, conductor on the CD Evolutionary Spirits. Jonathan Sheffer, composer

Eos Orchestra: Recordings

YearTitleLabelNotes
1995 Paul Bowles: Music RCA Red Seal World premiere recordings of compositions from the popular expatriate novelist. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1996Music for MerceBMG CatalystWorld premiere recordings of works written for choreographer Merce Cunningham. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1998 Aaron Copland: American Master BMG The composer´s original chamber version of Appalachian Spring and a program of American masterworks. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Gershwin: The Complete Works For Piano & Orchestra BMG The complete Gershwin piano and orchestra works. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
2001Celluloid Copland Telarc World premiere film music by Aaron Copland. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor. Grammy-nomination

Film and television recordings

YearTitleLabelNotes
1992 Alien 3 MCA Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Batman Returns Warner Sunset Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1993 Sommersby Elektra Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1994 Cobb Sony Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Golden Gate Varèse Sarabande Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Interview with the Vampire Geffen Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1995 Smoke Hollywood Records Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Batman Forever Atlantic Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Heat Warner Brothers Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1996 A Time to Kill Atlantic Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Michael Collins Atlantic Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1997 Batman & Robin Warner Sunset Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1998 Sphere Varèse Sarabande Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
1999 In Dreams Varèse Sarabande Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
Titus Sony Classical Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
2004Broadway: The American MusicalColumbia Broadway MasterworksJonathan Sheffer, conductor
2006 The Good Shepherd Varèse Sarabande Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
2007 Across the Universe Interscope Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
2010 Public Enemies Decca Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor
The Tempest AllianceOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrack. Jonathan Sheffer, conductor

Other works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Elfman</span> American composer (born 1953)

Daniel Robert Elfman is an American film composer, singer, songwriter, and musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since scoring his first studio film in 1985, Elfman has garnered international recognition for composing over 100 feature film scores, as well as compositions for television, stage productions, and the concert hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Bernstein</span> American conductor and composer (1918–1990)

Leonard Bernstein was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first American conductor to receive international acclaim. Bernstein was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history" according to music critic Donal Henahan. Bernstein received numerous honors and accolades including seven Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and 16 Grammy Awards as well as an Academy Award nomination. He received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1981.

John Paul Corigliano Jr. is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and an Oscar.

The 34th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1992, recognizing accomplishments by musicians from the previous year (1991). Natalie Cole won the most awards (three), including Album of the Year. Paul Simon opened the show.

Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, and one of eighteen of the "EGOT" – people to have won all four major American showbusiness awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. He is best known for orchestrating the works of Stephen Sondheim, their collaboration starting in 1970 with Company and continuing until Sondheim's death in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renée Fleming</span> American soprano

Renée Lynn Fleming is an American soprano, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nominated for 18 Grammy Awards and has won five times. In June 2023, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that Fleming will be one of the five artists recognized at the 2023 Kennedy Center Honors. Other notable honors won by Fleming have included the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the French government, Germany's Cross of the Order of Merit, Sweden's Polar Music Prize and honorary membership in England's Royal Academy of Music. Unusual among artists whose careers began in opera, Fleming has achieved name recognition beyond the classical music world. In May, 2023, Fleming was appointed by the World Health Organization as a Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Conlon</span> American conductor

James Conlon is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera, principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, and artistic advisor to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mauceri</span> American conductor, producer, educator and writer

John Francis Mauceri is an American conductor, producer, educator and writer. Since making his professional conducting debut almost half a century ago, he has appeared with most of the world's great orchestras, guest-conducted at the premiere opera houses, produced and musically supervised Tony and Olivier Award-winning Broadway musicals, and served as university faculty and administrator. Through his varied career, he has taken the lead in the preservation and performance of many genres of music and supervised and conducted important premieres by composers as diverse as Debussy, Stockhausen, Korngold, Hindemith, Bernstein, Sibelius, Ives, Elfman and Shore. He is also a leading performer of music banned by the Third Reich and especially music of Hollywood's émigré composers.

Hila Plitmann is an Israeli-American two-time Grammy Award-winning operatic soprano, songwriter, and actress specializing in the performance of new works.

<i>The Consul</i> Opera by Gian Carlo Menotti

The Consul is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera.

Meriwether Lewis Spratlan Jr. was an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music.

Robert Spano is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and music director laureate of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Nally</span> Musical artist

Donald Nally is an American conductor, chorus master, and professor of conducting, specializing in chamber choirs, opera, and new music. He is conductor of the professional new-music choir, The Crossing, based in Philadelphia. He teaches graduate students at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JoAnn Falletta</span> American conductor

JoAnn Falletta is an American conductor.

Emmanuel Villaume is a French orchestra conductor. He is currently music director of the Dallas Opera and chief conductor of the Prague Philharmonia.

Lee Elwood Holdridge is a Haitian-born American composer, conductor, and orchestrator. A 18-time Emmy Award nominee, he has won two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Daytime Emmy Awards, two News and Documentary Emmy Awards, and one Sports Emmy Award. He has also been nominated for two Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franz Allers</span> Music Conductor

Franz Allers was a European-American conductor of ballet, opera, Broadway musicals, film scores, and symphony orchestras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salvatore Dell'Isola</span>

Salvatore Dell'Isola was a conductor who acted as music director for several of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals on Broadway, among others. He won a Tony Award as music director of Flower Drum Song.

John J. Moses is a New York City-based clarinetist who has played with the American Composers Orchestra, The New York Pops, and The Westchester Philharmonic. He has held a soloist or orchestral role in over 200 films and Broadway productions. Moses is a five time Grammy winner.

Ilana Davidson is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international singing career in operas and concerts. She has sung on several recordings, including as a soloist on a recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience with Leonard Slatkin and the University of Michigan chorus and orchestra which won four Grammy Awards including Best Classical Album in 2006. She is the co-artistic director of the Chamber music series ClassicalCafe.

References

  1. ↑ Wright, David (April 30, 2000). "MUSIC; An Orchestra's Success Breeds a Sequel". The New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  2. ↑ Ballen, Sian (August 22, 2008). "Jonathan Sheffer". New York Social Diary. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ "How did your education shape your attitudes about music? Jonathan Sheffer, Composer; Founder, Conductor and Artistic Director of the Eos Orchestra". New Music USA. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer". Grammy Awards. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer". Navona Records. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer & the Eos Orchestra". Fanfaire. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer Biography by Joseph Stevenson". All Music. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer". Musician Bio. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Ladies in Waiting – Chicago Creative Team". Broadway World. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ Purcell, Carey (January 22, 2014). "Reading of Going Hollywood,, Starring Vicki Lewis, Adam Wylie, Anneliese van der Pol and Tim Martin Gleason, Presented Jan. 22–23". Playbill. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer". Navona Records. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Films with music composed by Jonathan Sheffer". Letterboxd. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  13. ↑ Sisario, Ben (December 23, 2004). "Arts, Briefly; Eos Orchestra Folds". The New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  14. ↑ Shen, Ted (June 21, 2001). "EOS Orchestra". Chicago Reader. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  15. ↑ Jepson, Barbara (January 17, 2001). "Eos Orchestra Confronts The Perils of Success". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer". Grammy Awards. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  17. ↑ "ASCAP Awards Honor Adventurous Programming". MTV. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  18. ↑ Rosenberg, Donald (April 2, 2008). "Troubles bubbling under the surface led to undoing of Red (an orchestra)". Cleveland. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  19. ↑ Spector, Joseph (May 16, 2013). "Lawsky, Milgrim Get New Jobs With Cuomo". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  20. ↑ Hofler, Robert (April 24, 2000). "Blood on the Dining Room Floor". Variety. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  21. ↑ "The Conference of the Birds". Navona Records. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Jonathan Sheffer". MacDowell. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.