Jonathan Tunick

Jonathan Tunick (born April 19, 1938) is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer. 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.

Born

New York City, New York, United States

EducationBard College, Juilliard School

Occupations

Orchestrator
musical director
composer

SpouseLeigh Beery

Quick facts Born, Education ...

Jonathan Tunick
Tunick receiving Tony Award for Best Orchestrations 2024
Born	New York City, New York, United States
Education	Bard College, Juilliard School
Occupations	Orchestrator musical director composer
Spouse	Leigh Beery
Awards	EGOT

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Early life and education

Jonathan Tunick graduated from Hunter College Elementary School, and the LaGuardia Performing Arts High School, and holds degrees from Bard College and the Juilliard School.^[1]

Career

Tunick's principal instrument is the clarinet.^[2] Much of his work has arisen from his involvement in theatre, and he is associated especially with the musicals of Stephen Sondheim.^[3] Sondheim said "Tunick is a standout in his field not only because of his musicianship and imagination, but primarily because of his great sensitivity to theatrical atmosphere".^[4]

Tunick's band, "Broadway Moonlighters", played in 2008 with Barbara Cook as special guest,^[5] and played at Birdland jazz club in March 2012.^[2] He has also worked as an arranger and/or conductor on recordings with Judy Collins, Kiri Te Kanawa, Brian Asawa, Sir Neville Mariner, Itzhak Perlman, Plácido Domingo, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, and Bernadette Peters.^[6]

Recognition and awards

In his review of the Bernadette Peters recording Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein (2002), John Kenrick wrote: "Jonathan Tunick provides the brilliant arrangements."^[7]

He has won all four major American show business awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, making him an EGOT.^[8]^[9] In 1978, Tunick won an Oscar for A Little Night Music (Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score).^[9] In 1982, he won an Emmy for his work on the variety television special Night of 100 Stars (Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction),^[9] and in 1988, he won a Grammy for his work on the song "No One Is Alone" (Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s)),^[9] and in 1997, he won the first Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for the musical Titanic.^[10]

He has also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations four times and won a Drama Desk Special Award in 1982.^[11] Tunick was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in January 2009.^[12]

Personal life

Tunick is married to actress Leigh Beery^[1] (also known as "Lee Beery"), who appeared in the television soap opera Dark Shadows in 1971.^[13]

Work

Stage

Sources - AllMusic;^[14] Internet Broadway Database^[15]

Take Five (composer: "Gristedes," "The Pro Musica Antiqua")(Julius Monk Revue) - 1957^[16]
From A to Z - 1960
All in Love - 1961^[17]
Promises, Promises - 1968
Here's Where I Belong - 1968
Dames at Sea - 1969
Company - 1970
The Grass Harp - 1971
Follies - 1971
MASS - 1971
The Selling of the President - 1972
Sondheim: A Musical Tribute - Concert - 1973^[18]
A Little Night Music - 1973
Smith - 1973^[19]
A Chorus Line - 1975 ("Opening," "Nothing," "At The Ballet," "...And," "What I Did For Love")
Goodtime Charley - 1975
The Frogs - 1975
Pacific Overtures - 1976
Ballroom - 1978
Sweeney Todd - 1979
Merrily We Roll Along - 1981
Nine - (musical supervisor and orchestrations) 1982
Alice in Wonderland - (musical supervisor) 1982
Baby - 1983
Dance a Little Closer - 1983
Wind in the Willows - (musical supervisor) 1985
Into the Woods - 1987
Nick & Nora - 1991
Phantom - 1992^[20]
A Grand Night for Singing - 1993
Company (re-orchestrated) - 1993
Sweeney Todd (re-orchestrated) - 1993
Passion - 1994
The Petrified Prince - Public Theater 1994^[21]
Patti LuPone on Broadway - Walter Kerr Theatre Concert 1995^[22]
Company - 1995

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (re-orchestrated; originals by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal) - 1996
Martin Guerre - 1996
Into the Woods - 1997
Titanic - 1997
Saturday Night - 1999
Minnelli on Minnelli - (orchestrations) Palace Theatre Concerts 1999^[23]
Marie Christine - 1999
Putting It Together - 1999
Napoleon - 2000
Follies (re-orchestrated) - 2001
Into the Woods (re-orchestrated) - 2002
Elaine Stritch At Liberty - 2001
Nine - (re-orchestrated) 2003
110 in the Shade (re-orchestrated from Hershy Kay's originals) - 2003
The Frogs (re-orchestrated & expanded) - 2004
Pacific Overtures - (re-orchestrated) 2004
The Color Purple - 2005
A Chorus Line - (re-orchestrated) 2006
The Apple Tree - (re-orchestrated from Eddie Sauter's originals) 2006
110 in the Shade - (re-orchestrated from Hershy Kay's originals) 2007
Lovemusik - 2007
A Catered Affair - 2008
Road Show - 2008^[24] and 2003^[25]
The Story of My Life - 2009
Oklahoma! - (re-orchestrated from Robert Russell Bennett's originals) 2009
Bye Bye Birdie - (re-orchestrated from Robert Ginzler's originals) 2009
Paradise Found - 2010
Some Lovers - Old Globe Theatre 2011^[26]
Sweeney Todd (re-orchestrated) - 2012
Passion (re-orchestrated) - 2013
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder - 2013
Waterfall - Pasadena Playhouse 2015
Dames at Sea (re-orchestrated) - 2015
Cabin in the Sky - Encores! 2016
Carousel - (re-orchestrated from Don Walker's originals) 2018
Here We Are - 2023

Filmography

Sources - AllMusic;^[14] Internet Movie Database^[27]

The Twelve Chairs - 1970 - musical director, orchestrator
Blazing Saddles - 1974 - orchestrator
Young Frankenstein - 1974 - orchestrator
The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - 1975 - orchestrator
A Little Night Music - 1977 - composer orchestrator, conductor (winner, Academy Award)
Columbo: Murder Under Glass - 1978 - (television) - composer, conductor
Flying High - 1978 - (television) - composer, conductor
3 by Cheever: "O Youth and Beauty", "The Sorrows of Gin" and 3 by Cheever: The 5:48 - 1979 - (television) - composer, conductor
Rendezvous Hotel - 1979 - (television) - composer, conductor
Swan Song - 1980 - (television) - composer, conductor
Blinded by the Light - 1980 - (television) - composer, conductor
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall - 1980 - (television) - composer, conductor
Fort Apache the Bronx - 1981 - composer, conductor
Endless Love - 1981 - composer, conductor
Reds - 1981 - orchestrator
The Shady Hill Kidnapping - 1982 - (television) - composer, conductor
Night of 100 Stars - 1982 - (television) - music arranger
Sweeney Todd - 1982 - (television) - orchestrator
Alice in Wonderland - 1983 - (television) - composer, conductor
I Am the Cheese - 1983 - composer, conductor
Murder, She Wrote - 1984 - (television) - series composer, conductor
Concealed Enemies - 1984 - (television) - composer, conductor
Brotherly Love - 1985 - (television) - composer, conductor^[28]
Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories - 1985 - (television) - series composer, conductor
The B.R.A.T. Patrol - 1986 - (television) - composer, conductor^[29]
American Masters - 1986 - (television) - composer (theme only)
You Ruined My Life - 1987 - (television) - composer, conductor
Into the Woods - 1991 - (television) - orchestrator
Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall - 1993 (televised) (concert in 1992) - (television) - orchestrator^[30]
The Last Good Time - 1994 - composer, conductor
The Birdcage - 1996 - music arranger and adapter, composer, conductor
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh - 1998 - (television) - orchestrator
The Fantasticks - 2000 - music adaptor and arranger, conductor
Find Me Guilty - 2006 - composer, conductor
Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton film) - 2007 - music adaptor and orchestrator
Into the Woods - 2014 - orchestrator
Beauty and the Beast - 2017 - orchestrator