Sylvester Levay (originally Lévay Szilveszter,

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

: Силвестер Леваи, ''Silvester Levai'') is a Hungarian recording artist and composer, born in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

(now

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

Life and career

Levay was born on 16 May 1945 in

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

in the

North Bačka District The North Bačka District ( sr, Севернобачки округ, Severnobački okrug, ; hu, Észak-bácskai körzet) is one of seven administrative districts of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It lies in the Bačka geographi ...

of Vojvodina,

(now

). Sylvester Levay began his musical studies at the age of eight. Levay developed a taste for American music while growing up in Yugoslavia, eventually becoming a music arranger and lyricist. Upon his arrival in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

in 1972, he met his writing partner, Michael Kunze, with whom he has created many successful theatrical works. From 1980 to 2000 he lived in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

and concentrated on composing film music. He composed songs for notable artists like

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Penny McLean Gertrude Wirschinger, better known as Penny McLean (born 4 November 1948), is an Austrian vocalist who initially gained acclaim with the disco music act Silver Convention, but also had exposure as a single recording artist. As a solo singer, she i ...

. He was awarded with a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for his 1975 song "Fly Robin Fly". In October 2010, Levay worked with Xiah Junsu of

JYJ JYJ (formerly known as Junsu/Jejung/Yuchun in Japan) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 by Kim Junsu, Kim Jae-joong, and Park Yoo-chun, the three former members of TVXQ. Their group name is taken from the initial letters of each member's n ...

to prepare for a musical concert - "Kim Junsu Musical Concert, Levay with Friends" in South Korea to be held at

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Olympic Gymnastics Arena The Olympic Gymnastics Arena (), also known as the KSPO Dome since 2018, is an indoor arena located within the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea. It has a capacity of 15,000 and can be extended upto 20,000. It was constructed between 31 Aug ...

.Xiah Junsu Musical Concert To Be Held
, 2010 He currently divides his time between homes in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Married for twenty-five years, he and his wife Monika have a daughter, Alice, and a son, Sylvester Jr.

Compositions (selection)

Fly, Robin, Fly "Fly, Robin, Fly" is a song by the German disco group Silver Convention from their debut studio album '' Save Me'' (1975). Sylvester Levay and Stephan Prager wrote the song, and the latter produced it. "Fly, Robin, Fly" was released as the third ...

" (1975) *'' Get Up and Boogie'' (1976) *'' Scarface OST'' (as arranger) (1983) *'' Flashdance'' soundtrack collaboration with

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

*'' Where the Boys Are '84'' (1984) *'' Invitation to Hell'' (1984) *'' Creator'' (1985) *''

My Man Adam ''My Man Adam'' is a 1985 American comedy film directed by Roger L. Simon and co-written by Simon and Renée Missel. Plot High schooler Adam Swit (Raphael Sbarge) constantly daydreams about the same beautiful girl. Soon new student Sabrina McKay ...

'' (1986) *'' Airwolf'' (1984–1986) *'' Cobra'' (1986) *''

Mannequin A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...

'' (1987) *''

Werewolf (TV series) ''Werewolf'' is an American horror series, and one of the original shows in the Fox network's broadcast line-up during its inaugural season of 1987–1988. The show follows the adventures of Eric Cord (John J. York), a college student transfo ...

'' (1987–88) *'' Probe (TV series)'' (1988) *'' Navy SEALs'' (1990) *'' Stone Cold'' (1991) *''

Hot Shots! ''Hot Shots!'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of ''Airplane!'', and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin Dunn ...

'' (1991) *'' Medicopter 117'' (1998–2006) *''Hexen, Hexen'' (musical) (1990) *'' Elisabeth (Musical)'' (1992) *'' Mozart!'' (musical) (1999) *'' Rebecca (musical)'' (2006) *''

Marie Antoinette (musical) ''Marie Antoinette'' is a stage musical with music by Sylvester Levay and book and lyrics by Michael Kunze, the authors of ''Elisabeth'', ''Mozart!'' and ''Rebecca''. The Libretto was written in English and then translated into Japanese. The p ...

'' (2006)

Awards

Award for ''Fly, Robin, Fly'', words by Michael Kunze (1975) * Goldene Stimmgabel (2002) *

Goldene Europa Goldene Europa award is the oldest German Television award for artists and entertainers. It was awarded from 1968 to 2003. In the years 1989 and 2001, there were no ceremonies. Since 1981, the gala was broadcast on television. The original sculptu ...

(2002)

References

External links

*
"Airwolf Themes 2CD"

Filmography

"Airwolf Music Documentary"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levay, Sylvester Hungarians in Vojvodina Hungarian film score composers Serbian film score composers Male film score composers Hungarian musical theatre composers Serbian musical theatre composers Musicians from Subotica 1945 births Living people Grammy Award winners Varèse Sarabande Records artists