Jeanine Tesori

Jeanine Tesori
Name	Jeanine Tesori
Birth date	1961
Birth place	Port Chester, New York, United States
Occupation	Composer, musical director, conductor, pianist
Years active	1980s–present

Jeanine Tesori is an American composer, musical director, conductor, and pianist known for her work in musical theatre, opera, film, and concert repertoire. She has composed scores and orchestrations for Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatres, and film projects, collaborating with prominent librettists, directors, and performers. Her career spans collaborations with major institutions and artists across the United States and internationally.

Early life and education

Tesori was born in Port Chester, New York, and raised in Rowayton, Connecticut, near the cultural centers of New York City, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Westchester County, New York. She studied piano and voice as a child and attended Norwalk Community College before transferring to and graduating from Boston University with further musical training. Tesori pursued graduate studies at the Juilliard School and participated in workshops at Tanglewood and programs associated with New Dramatists and BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, which exposed her to the networks of Broadway composers, theatrical directors, and musical theater institutions.

Career

Tesori's professional work began in regional theater and Off-Broadway venues such as Circle Repertory Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Public Theater (New York City), and Playwrights Horizons. She moved between roles as composer, arranger, musical director, and conductor, collaborating with directors like James Lapine, Michael Greif, Diane Paulus, and George C. Wolfe. Her Broadway debut as a composer and orchestrator led to productions at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Tesori has also worked in opera houses including Glimmerglass Festival, San Francisco Opera, and New York City Opera, and on film scores connected to studios such as Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures. She has taught and given residencies at institutions including Yale School of Drama, New York University, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Major works and collaborations

Tesori's major stage works include scores for musicals and operas produced on Broadway and in major regional houses. Notable collaborations include librettists and lyricists such as Tony Kushner, Nell Benjamin, David Lindsay-Abaire, Toni Morrison, and Nicholas Kristof. She composed the score for productions like the revival of Thoroughly Modern Millie (regional development), the Broadway musical Shrek the Musical (with book by David Lindsay-Abaire), and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fun Home (with book and lyrics by Lisa Kron). Other significant projects include the musicals Caroline, or Change (development and influences), the new musical Violet (workshopping and productions), and stage adaptations of works by Michael Chabon and Alice Walker. Tesori collaborated with directors and choreographers including Susan Stroman, Christopher Ashley, Jerry Mitchell, and Moses Pendleton and worked with performers such as Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Sutton Foster, and Joaquin Romaguera in various productions. She has also written incidental music and arrangements for playwrights like Arthur Miller, Edward Albee, and August Wilson in reimagined stagings.

In opera and concert work, Tesori wrote pieces premiered at companies such as The Metropolitan Opera outreach and festivals like Lincoln Center Festival and worked with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She has contributed to film and television projects involving creatives from Miramax and public broadcasting partnerships with PBS.

Awards and honors

Tesori's achievements have been recognized with major theater and music awards. She has received multiple Tony Award nominations and won in categories for orchestration and score work; she is a recipient of an Obie Award for Off-Broadway achievement and has been honored with Drama Desk Awards and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Tesori has received the MacArthur Fellowship-type recognition through peer and institutional grants, and her works have been associated with productions awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Revival in various seasons. She has been honored by organizations such as The Dramatists Guild of America, American Theatre Wing, and Playwrights Horizons for her contributions and has received fellowships from National Endowment for the Arts and foundations connected to Tessitura-style arts funding.

Musical style and influences

Tesori's musical language blends influences from Broadway traditions exemplified by composers like Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers, Jerome Kern, and Leonard Bernstein, as well as classical and operatic sensibilities drawn from Giacomo Puccini, Igor Stravinsky, and Gustav Mahler. Her work demonstrates an awareness of contemporary musical theater trends associated with Stephen Schwartz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Lerner and Loewe, while incorporating elements from American popular music traditions linked to George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Duke Ellington. She cites pedagogical influences from institutions such as Juilliard and festival mentors at Tanglewood, and her scores often reflect collaboration with lyricists and playwrights in the vein of James Lapine and Hal Prince projects.

Personal life

Tesori lives in the United States and has been involved in advocacy for arts education and equity through organizations including Lambda Legal, American Civil Liberties Union, and regional arts councils like New York State Council on the Arts. She has mentored emerging composers through programs at Broadway Cares, New Dramatists, and conservatory initiatives at Juilliard and Yale School of Music. Tesori's personal associations include collaborations with prominent theater artists and participation in panels at institutions such as Carnegie Hall, The Public Theater, and Harvard University.

Category:American composers Category:Musical theatre composers Category:Broadway composers