Biography
Stanley Silverman, an American conductor, guitarist, and composer whose output spans film scores, theatrical productions, and chamber pieces, gained widespread recognition through partnerships with pop figures including Sting, James Taylor, and Paul Simon, resulting in major honors and widespread critical notice.
Born in New York in 1938 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, he grew up in the Bronx and attended local public schools through the early 1950s. Following his diploma from Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts, he earned a B.A. in music at Boston University, then completed an M.M. in composition at Mills College under Leon Kirchner and Darius Milhaud, with additional guidance from Henry Cowell, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Roberto Gerhard. During his student years he performed guitar in a jazz quintet and remained an active concert guitarist across the 1960s. He also taught at Tanglewood University and, in 1965, became music director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater. Two years later Glenn Gould asked him to write for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. His 1968 score Elephant Steps brought multiple awards and launched his reputation as a composer.
By the early 1970s demand for his skills as both composer and musical director had grown substantially. In 1972 he supplied incidental music for Arthur Miller’s The Creation of the World and Other Business, and the pair finished the musical Up from Paradise, which premiered the next year in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Appointed musical director for Joseph Papp’s 1976 staging of The Threepenny Opera, Silverman earned strong reviews and several prominent award nominations. Around the same period he wrote the film scores for Nanook of the North, Simon, Eyewitness, and I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can. He directed Black Sea Follies in 1986 and, three years later, completed Piano Trio No. 1: In Celebration.
Stepping outside theatrical work, his contributions to James Taylor’s 1997 album Hourglass secured a Grammy for Best Pop Album. In 2000 he worked with Paul Simon on You’re the One, which received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Concerts worldwide marked his 80th birthday in 2018 and 2019. His music appeared again on the 2023 recording In Celebration, The Piano Trios of Stanley Silverman, featuring Sting and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. He continues to work as a musician and creative consultant in New York.
Born in New York in 1938 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, he grew up in the Bronx and attended local public schools through the early 1950s. Following his diploma from Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts, he earned a B.A. in music at Boston University, then completed an M.M. in composition at Mills College under Leon Kirchner and Darius Milhaud, with additional guidance from Henry Cowell, Vladimir Ussachevsky, and Roberto Gerhard. During his student years he performed guitar in a jazz quintet and remained an active concert guitarist across the 1960s. He also taught at Tanglewood University and, in 1965, became music director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater. Two years later Glenn Gould asked him to write for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. His 1968 score Elephant Steps brought multiple awards and launched his reputation as a composer.
By the early 1970s demand for his skills as both composer and musical director had grown substantially. In 1972 he supplied incidental music for Arthur Miller’s The Creation of the World and Other Business, and the pair finished the musical Up from Paradise, which premiered the next year in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Appointed musical director for Joseph Papp’s 1976 staging of The Threepenny Opera, Silverman earned strong reviews and several prominent award nominations. Around the same period he wrote the film scores for Nanook of the North, Simon, Eyewitness, and I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can. He directed Black Sea Follies in 1986 and, three years later, completed Piano Trio No. 1: In Celebration.
Stepping outside theatrical work, his contributions to James Taylor’s 1997 album Hourglass secured a Grammy for Best Pop Album. In 2000 he worked with Paul Simon on You’re the One, which received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Concerts worldwide marked his 80th birthday in 2018 and 2019. His music appeared again on the 2023 recording In Celebration, The Piano Trios of Stanley Silverman, featuring Sting and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. He continues to work as a musician and creative consultant in New York.
Albums