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Ted Sperling is a musical director, conductor,
orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...
,
arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...
, stage director and musician, primarily for the stage and concerts. He won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the
Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...
, Outstanding Orchestrations, for his work in '' The Light in the Piazza'' in 2005. He is the Artistic Director o
MasterVoices
formerly the Collegiate Chorale.


Career

Sperling was born in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
and started taking violin lessons at age 5, studied at
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
starting at age 16, and graduated from
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
,
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
, summa cum laude at the age of 21."Theater:Ted Sperling"
citypaper.net, August 15–21, 2002
Sperling has been the musical director, conductor, stage director and/or arranger for such Broadway musicals as the revival of '' South Pacific'' (2008) and ''The Light in the Piazza'' (2005), and for some ten
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
musicals, starting with ''Gus and Al'' in 1989 through ''Striking 12'' in 2006. He appeared on-stage in the musical ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' (1997) as a performer and one of the on-stage trio of musicians. He began stage directing in regional theatre in 2001, and then directed the musical '' See What I Wanna See'', both regionally and
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
, in 2004 and 2005. He is the musical conductor for concerts for performer Victoria Clark. The two met at Yale University, when they sang in the Yale Chapel Choir and he was also the first violist in the Yale Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted concerts for Audra McDonald, such as her Houston Grand Opera debut in March 2006 and her New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve concert, December 31, 2006. In 2013 he was named Artistic Director of MasterVoices, formerly The Collegiate Chorale. In 2002 he was named Associate Artistic Director of the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia, PA . In 2008 he was appointed Director of the Public Theater's Musical Theatre Initiative. In 2015 he was named Artistic Director of MasterVoices. As an actor, he appeared on Broadway as the bandleader Wallace Hartley in the original production of ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' (1997) and played
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television and radio personality, comedian, musician, composer, writer, and actor. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-creator and ...
in a television appearance of Lenny Bruce (portrayed by Luke Kirby) during the last episode of Season 2 in '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''.


Work (selected)

*''
Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...
'' (2008) - Musical Director, Vocal and incidental music arrangements *''South Pacific'' (2008) - Musical Director, Conductor *''Striking 12'' (2006), Daryl Roth Theatre, Stage director, *''The Light in the Piazza'' (2005) - Orchestrator, Musical Director, Conductor *''Peter Pan and Wendy'' (2002), Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, Stage Director *'' Lady in the Dark'' (2001), Prince Music Theater, Philadelphia, Stage Director Perry, Claudi
"Review: ''Lady in the Dark'' "
aislesay.com, accessed July 24, 2009
*'' The Full Monty'' (2000) - Musical Director, Vocal and incidental music arrangements *'' How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' (1995) - Musical Director, Conductor, Vocal and incidental music arrangements *''
Sunday in the Park with George ''Sunday in the Park with George'' is a 1984 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It was inspired by the French pointillist painter Georges Seurat's painting '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La G ...
'' (1984) Synthesizer


References


External links

*
Internet Off-Broadway Database listing

Official Web Siteplaybill.com, October 26, 2005American Theatre Wing biography at americantheatrewing.org as of October 2005
*MasterVoices website mastervoices.org
Under a Minute: Ted Sperling
ALL ARTS {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperling, Ted Year of birth missing (living people) American choral conductors American male conductors (music) American music arrangers Musicians from Manhattan Tony Award winners Yale University alumni Living people Classical musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians