Charles Strouse Biography

Charles Strouse, (born 7 June 1928), is an American composer and three-time winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Strouse was born in New York. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and has studied with Aaron Copland and Nadia Boulanger. After an early career as a piano player for dance bands and then theatre rehearsals, he went on to write music ranging from Broadway hits and movie scores to chamber, orchestral works, a piano concerto and operas. He has collaborated with Lee Adams, Alan Jay Lerner, Martin Charnin, and Sammy Cahn.

Strouse is also the creator of the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop and co-writer of the 1958 top-ten hit Born Too Late with Fred Tobias. His opera Nightingale, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, has been performed worldwide and can be heard on a CD recording starring Sarah Brightman.

Charles Strouse recently reunited with old lyricist partner Lee Adams on a charming musicalization of the movie Marty, which starred John C. Reilly in its 2002 world premiere in Boston. Despite excellent box office and announcements of its imminent Broadway opening, the show has not been produced again (though the ballad "Stars" appeared on the recent CD The Musicality of Charles Strouse). He is currently working on a musical called You Never Know, which opened in Providence, RI on April 28, 2005.