He is a Grammy award winning Broadway and film composer who has touched lives internationally with his incredible music and brilliant lyrics. He has etched his name in Broadway history as well as on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He’s Stephen Schwartz, and his talent will be gracing the stage at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons this May.
Stephen Schwartz was born in New York City. Having studied piano and composition in high school, Stephen continued his musical pursuit and graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama.
For over four decades, Stephen has contributed to an array of Broadway hits and films including the current Broadway hit Wicked and Pippin, and has also contributed music or lyrics to Godspell, The Magic Show, The Baker’s Wife, Working (which he also adapted and directed), Rags and Children of Eden. He has worked with Leonard Bernstein for Bernstein’s Mass and wrote the title song for the play and movie, Butterflies Are Free.
Stephen began working in film and has collaborated with composer Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas, which received two Academy Awards and another Grammy, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He provided songs for The Prince of Egypt, where he won yet another Academy Award for the song When You Believe. His most recent collaboration with Alan Menken includes songs for Disney’s Enchanted.
One of his most popular and recent musicals, Wicked, opened in the fall of 2003 and is currently running on Broadway and several other productions around the U.S. and the world. In 2008, Wicked reached it’s 1,900th performance on Broadway, making Stephen the only songwriter in Broadway history to have three shows run more than 1,900 performances.
Not only has Stephen provided music for television, film and the theatre, he has made his name is the opera scene with Séance on a Wet Afternoon, which premiered at Opera Santa Barbara in 2009. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
On May 31, the Santa Clarita Master Chorale and the College of the Canyons will present Defying Gravity, with Stephen Schwartz. The performance will begin at 4 p.m. and will be celebrating Stephen’s incredible music career.
“The Santa Clarita Master Chorale is very excited to be on stage with someone of Mr. Schwartz’s caliber,” states Executive Director Sherry Klahs, Chairman of the Board of Directors. “The sheer volume of award winning music and shows created by Stephen Schwartz is truly amazing thus to be able to present some of our Stephen Schwartz favorites in his presence will be exhilarating. The audience will be delighted by Mr. Schwartz as he performs solo pieces and shares tidbits and stories about the making and creation of his many compositions.”
For more information about Stephen Schwartz, visit www.stephenschwartz.com.