Glen Roven
Glen Roven is a composer, lyricist, and conductor. One of his notable compositions include a violin concerto based on the children's book The Runaway Bunny which was recorded by Sony narrated by Brooke Shields and recorded by GPRrecords narrated by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Another notable composition is "Goodnight Moon, An Aria for Singer and Orchestra" which Lauren Flanigan performed in Central Park May 9, 2010 for an audience of 10,000. It was subsequently performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and the Kimmel Center. He is the Artist Director of "GPR Records" where he conceived and produced "Poetic License 100 Poems/100 Performers" where artists such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Patti LuPone, Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon, etc. perform their favorite poem. This musical The 5000 Fingers of Doctor T (music and lyrics Roven, book by Maria S. Schlatter) is now fast-tracked for Broadway after a long gestation period.
Biography
Stage career
While in high school, Roven worked as a rehearsal pianist for Pippin. After graduation, he attended Columbia University and worked on the New York productions of Very Good Eddie, The Madwoman of CPW, Really Rosie, A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green, She Loves Me, and Woman of the Year.
At 19, Roven was the original musical director of Sugar Babies on Broadway starring Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney.
He arranged Patti LuPone’s one woman Broadway show and was the co-musical supervisor for Liza Minnelli's, Stepping Out, at Radio City Music Hall. He was a contributing composer for the Off-Broadway hit, A... My Name Is Alice, and wrote the scores for John Guare's Lydie Breeze, directed by Louis Malle, and Gardenia, directed by Karel Reisz. He also composed the scores for Larry Gelbart's Mastergate, and Christopher Isherwood's A Meeting by the River, on Broadway, and Got to Get Away.
His musical, Heart's Desire, premiered at the Cleveland Play House. It was performed subsequently for one night at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West end directed by Simon Callow.
On May 28, 2008, Norman's Ark opened the Los Angeles New Musical Festival and was directed by Peter Schneider and produced by Maria S. Schlatter. Roven has two musicals scheduled for Broadway: Dr. Seuss' The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T and Pandora's Box, both written by Maria S. Schlatter and directed by Gary Halvorson.
English Baritone Mark Stone recently performed an entire evening of Roven's Concert music at Carnegie Hall with Roven at the piano.
Conducting
He conducted President Bill Clinton's two inaugural concerts as well as President George W. Bush's two inaugural concerts. He also conducted and arranged Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.'s last TV appearances. He also conducted the TV Specials, Night of 100 Stars, Night of 100 Stars II, and Night of 100 Stars III.
He made his Israeli conducting debut in 2001 conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He has conducted the National Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the IKO, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Radio Luxembourg Orchestra.
Roven has also arranged and conducted for Julie Andrews, Anita Baker, Kathleen Battle, Michael Bolton, Tevin Campbell, Ray Charles, Plácido Domingo, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Kenny G., Gregory Hines, Bob Hope, Hootie and the Blowfish, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bernadette Peters, Luther Vandross, and Stevie Wonder.
Other ventures
As a CD producer, Roven produced (for GPRrecords) Patricia Racette, Diva on Detour; Talise Trevigne, At the Statue of Venus; Daniel Okulitch; The New American Art Song; The Five Boroughs Songbook; Poetic License; 100 Poems/100 Performers; In My Craft or Sullen Art, The Stories and Poems of Dylan Thomas; Goodnight Moon/The Runaway Bunny with Lauren Flanigan and Kate Mulgrew; and is currently producing CDS for Charles Castronovo, Paulo Szot, Ramon Vargas, The Arias of William Bolcolm. As a translator, Roven has translated all three DaPonte/Mozart Operas: Figaro, Cosi and Don Giovanni. He translated Mahler's Ruckert Lieder, Songs of a Wayfarer, Kindertotenlieder and Des Knaben Wunderhorn. He has also translated Schubert's Wintereisse and all of Hugo Wolf's Italian Songbook.
For children, Roven produced the Sharon, Lois & Bram album, Candles, Snow and Mistletoe (1993), which was also at the Palace Theatre, New York.[1] He also wrote the theme the 1990 television series The Baby-Sitters Club.
Roven served as a contributing author to the books Games We Play, published by Simon & Schuster, and City Secrets. He is currently Artistic Director of GPRrecords, a CD Label specializing in Classical, Broadway and Children's music.
Roven also appeared as the News Theme Writer in James L. Brooks's Broadcast News.
References
- ↑ McCormick, Moira (4 September 1993). "Sharon, Lois & Brown in holiday spirit; Fellow Canadian penner has full plate". Billboard. p. 64. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
External links
- Official website
- Glen Roven at the Internet Movie Database
- Glen Roven at the Internet Broadway Database
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