Yale Musicians & Composers
by Sylviastel | created - 05 Sep 2014 | updated - 17 Jan 2017 | PublicRobert Carl: composer and chair of composition at the Hartt School.
Jack Glatzer (BA 1960) concert violinist.
Walter Hekster (M.Mus 1963) composer, clarinetist, conductor.
Lisa Hopkins: opera singer. Tony award winner.
Johann Sebastian Paetsch (MM 1987) musician and cellist.
Andre Raphel: conductor of the Wheeling symphony orchestra
Chad Shelton (MA 1997) operatic tenor
1. Adam Guettel
Composer | Jack: The Last Kennedy Film
Adam Guettel was born on December 16, 1964 in New York, New York, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Jack: The Last Kennedy Film (1993), Arguing the World (1997) and New Year's Day (1989).
BA 1987; Tony Award winning composer/lyricist.
2. Ranidu Lankage
Music_department | Anjalika
Ranidu Lankage is a Sinhalese R&B and hip hop artist who raised the international profile of Sinhalese RnB/pop. Lankage is the first Sinhalese artist to be played on BBC Radio 1 and the creator of the first Sinhalese single to be played on MTV and channel V and Z music India. He is a graduate in ...
BA 2005; Sinhalese R&B and Hip Hop artist.
3. Jane Ira Bloom
Soundtrack | Silver City
Jane Ira Bloom is known for Silver City (2004), The Deal (1998) and The Dancer Films (2011).
Soprano; saxophonist
4. Carter Brey
Music_department | Vision
Carter Brey is known for Vision (2018), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) and Live from Lincoln Center (1976).
principal cellist for the New York Philharmonic.
5. Jonathan Coulton
Music_department | BrainDead
Jonathan Coulton is known for BrainDead (2016), The Good Fight (2017) and Portal 2 (2011).
BA 1992; musician, internet celebrity known for his song, "Code Monkey."
6. Marin Alsop
Music_department | Great Performances
Marin Alsop is known for Great Performances (1971), The Better Angels (2014) and The Conductor (2021).
studied at Yale (1973-1975) before transferred to Juilliard; conductor an music director for Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
7. Charles Ives
Soundtrack | Lola rennt
Charles Ives was born on October 20, 1874 in Danbury, Connecticut, USA. He was a composer, known for Run Lola Run (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998) and Neruda (2016). He was married to Harmony Twitchell. He died on May 19, 1954 in New York City, New York, USA.
BA 1898; composer, classical music.
8. Mitch Leigh
Soundtrack | Demolition Man
Composer, arranger and producer Mitch Leigh was a graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree and wrote many musical commercial themes. He was awarded honors from the American Television Commercial Festival and the Venice International Advertising Film Festival. ...
BA 1951; M.Mus. 1952; composer, producer of "Man of La Mancha, composed "To Dream the Impossible Dream."
9. Gilbert Levine
Music_department | A Musical Offering from the Vatican: A Papal Concert
Gilbert Levine is known for A Musical Offering from the Vatican: A Papal Concert (1992), A Celebration of Peace Through Music (2015) and Ludwig van Beethoven: Missa solemnis op 123 (2005).
MA 1972; conductor, leading figure in classical music television.
10. George Lewis
Soundtrack | Wild Man Blues
George Lewis was born on July 13, 1900 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He died on December 31, 1968 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
BA 1974; trombonist and composer.
11. Robert Lopez
Soundtrack | WandaVision
Robert Lopez is the Tony®-, Grammy®-, Emmy®- and Oscar®- winning co-creator of the worldwide smash-hit Broadway musicals "Avenue Q" and "The Book of Mormon." Together with his wife and collaborator Kristen Anderson-Lopez, he co-wrote songs for the feature films "Winnie the Pooh (2011)" and "Frozen ...
BA 1997; co-creator of the musical, "Avenue Q;" and "The Book of Mormon," and winner of 3 Tony Awards.
12. Alvin Lucier
Soundtrack | Enter the Void
Alvin Lucier was born on May 14, 1931 in Nashua, New Hampshire, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Enter the Void (2009), Cry Dr. Chicago (1971) and Circles (1969). He was married to Mary Lucier and Wendy Stokes. He died on December 1, 2021 in Middletown, Connecticut, USA.
experimental composer
13. Pras Michel
Actor | Mystery Men
Pras Michel was born on October 19, 1972. He is an actor and producer, known for Mystery Men (1999), Bulworth (1998) and Turn It Up (2000).
Grammy award winner rapper, member of the Fugees.
14. Douglas Moore
Music_department | Live from Lincoln Center
Douglas Moore was born on August 10, 1893 in Cutchogue, Long Island, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Live from Lincoln Center (1976), Youth Gets a Break (1941) and Arias and Arabesques (1962). He died on July 25, 1969 in Greenport, long Island, New York, USA.
BA 1915; BM 1917; composer
15. Scott Pask
Art_department | Mean Girls
Scott Pask is known for Mean Girls (2024), Trees Lounge (1996) and Waitress: The Musical (2023).
MFA 1997; scenic designer; Tony Award for "The Pillowman."
16. Cole Porter
Soundtrack | At Long Last Love
Cole Porter was born June 9, 1891, at Peru, Indiana, the son of pharmacist Samuel Fenwick Porter and Kate Cole. Cole was raised on a 750-acre fruit ranch. Kate Cole married Samuel Porter in 1884 and had two children, Louis and Rachel, who both died in infancy. Porter's grandfather, J.G. Cole, was a...
BA 1913; composer
17. Kurt Hugo Schneider
Director | College Musical
Kurt Hugo Schneider is known for College Musical (2014), Epic Patty Cake Song: I'll Think of You (2014) and Just a Dream (2010).
BA 2010; YouTube sensation, music producer, film director.
18. Sam Tsui
Actor | College Musical
Samuel Tsui grew up in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, across the street from Kurt Schneider his partner in the YouTube business. Sam and Kurt both went to Wissahickon high school Sam graduated in 2007 and Kurt in 2006 then both Sam and Kurt went to Yale university for college, which is when they first ...
BA 2011; Youtube sensation singer.
19. Rudy Vallee
Actor | The Palm Beach Story
Rudy Vallee started his career as a saxophone player and singer and later became a bandleader. In the 1920s and early '30s he had a hit radio program, The Fleishmann's Yeast Hour (although his explosive, ego-driven personality made his cast and crew hate him). In the early 1930s he was ranked with ...
BA 1927; singer, actor, bandleader, entertainer.
20. Maury Yeston
Soundtrack | Nine
Maury Yeston is a composer, lyricist, author and teacher, and moves easily between the worlds of theater, film, and academia, writing concert music, Broadway shows, and holding teaching posts as a respected musicologist.
In addition to winning his second Tony Award for Best Score for Broadway's "...
BA 1967, Ph.D. 1974; lyricist, composer, Tony Awards for "Nine" and "Titanic."
21. Foster MacKenzie III
Soundtrack | Mr. Mike's Mondo Video
Foster MacKenzie III was born on July 9, 1944. He is an actor, known for Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (1979) and The Drew Carey Show (1995).
aka Root Boy Slim (BA 1967) lyricist, blues musician.
22. David Longstreth
Soundtrack | Things Heard & Seen
David Longstreth is known for Things Heard & Seen (2021), Baywatch (2017) and Mistress America (2015).
songwriter, singer, guitarist, for Dirty Projectors.
23. Luther Davis
Writer | Kraft Suspense Theatre
Luther Davis was born on August 29, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Kraft Suspense Theatre (1963), Daughter of the Mind (1969) and Kismet (1955). He was married to Jennifer Bassey. He died on July 29, 2008 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA.
BA from Yale
24. Eric Banks
Sound_department | The Voice That Was Louder Than Before
Eric Banks is known for The Voice That Was Louder Than Before (2016).
BA 1990 composer
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