Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer. He is best known for orchestrating the works of Stephen Sondheim, their collaboration starting in 1970 with Company and continuing until Sondheim's death in 2021.
Early life and education
Jonathan Tunick graduated from Hunter College Elementary School, and the LaGuardia Performing Arts High School, and holds degrees from Bard College and the Juilliard School.Career
Tunick's principal instrument is the clarinet. Much of his work has arisen from his involvement in theatre, and he is associated especially with the musicals of Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim said "Tunick is a standout in his field not only because of his musicianship and imagination, but primarily because of his great sensitivity to theatrical atmosphere".Tunick's band, "Broadway Moonlighters", played in 2008 with Barbara Cook as special guest, and played at Birdland jazz club in March 2012. He has also worked as an arranger and/or conductor on recordings with Judy Collins, Kiri Te Kanawa, Brian Asawa, Sir Neville Mariner, Itzhak Perlman, Plácido Domingo, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney, and Bernadette Peters.
Recognition and awards
In his review of the Bernadette Peters recording Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers and Hammerstein, John Kenrick wrote: "Jonathan Tunick provides the brilliant arrangements."He has won all four major American show business awards: the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, making him an EGOT. In 1978, Tunick won an Oscar for A Little Night Music. In 1982, he won an Emmy for his work on the variety television special Night of 100 Stars, and in 1988, he won a Grammy for his work on the song "No One Is Alone", and in 1997, he won the first Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for the musical Titanic.
He has also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations four times and won a Drama Desk Special Award in 1982. Tunick was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in January 2009.
Personal life
Tunick is married to actress Leigh Beery, who appeared in the television soap opera Dark Shadows in 1971.Work
Stage
;Sources - AllMusic; Internet Broadway Database- Take Five - 1957
- From A to Z - 1960
- All in Love - 1961
- Promises, Promises - 1968
- Here's Where I Belong - 1968
- Dames at Sea - 1969
- Company - 1970
- The Grass Harp - 1971
- Follies - 1971
- MASS - 1971
- The Selling of the President - 1972
- Sondheim: A Musical Tribute - Concert - 1973
- A Little Night Music - 1973
- Smith - 1973
- A Chorus Line - 1975
- Goodtime Charley - 1975
- The Frogs - 1975
- Pacific Overtures - 1976
- Ballroom - 1978
- Sweeney Todd - 1979
- Merrily We Roll Along - 1981
- Nine - 1982
- Alice in Wonderland - 1982
- Baby - 1983
- Dance a Little Closer - 1983
- Wind in the Willows - 1985
- Into the Woods - 1987
- Nick & Nora - 1991
- Phantom - 1992
- A Grand Night for Singing - 1993
- Company - 1993
- Sweeney Todd - 1993
- Passion - 1994
- The Petrified Prince - Public Theater 1994
- Patti LuPone on Broadway - Walter Kerr Theatre Concert 1995
- Company - 1995
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum - 1996
- Martin Guerre - 1996
- Into the Woods - 1997
- Titanic - 1997
- Saturday Night - 1999
- Minnelli on Minnelli - Palace Theatre Concerts 1999
- Marie Christine - 1999
- Putting It Together - 1999
- Napoleon - 2000
- Follies - 2001
- Into the Woods - 2002
- Elaine Stritch At Liberty - 2001
- Nine - 2003
- 110 in the Shade - 2003
- The Frogs - 2004
- Pacific Overtures - 2004
- The Color Purple - 2005
- A Chorus Line - 2006
- The Apple Tree - 2006
- 110 in the Shade - 2007
- Lovemusik - 2007
- A Catered Affair - 2008
- Road Show - 2008 and 2003
- The Story of My Life - 2009
- Oklahoma! - 2009
- Bye Bye Birdie - 2009
- Paradise Found - 2010
- Some Lovers - Old Globe Theatre 2011
- Sweeney Todd - 2012
- Passion - 2013
- A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder - 2013
- Waterfall - Pasadena Playhouse 2015
- Dames at Sea - 2015
- Cabin in the Sky - Encores! 2016
- Carousel - 2018
- Here We Are - 2023
Filmography
- The Twelve Chairs - 1970 - musical director, orchestrator
- Blazing Saddles - 1974 - orchestrator
- Young Frankenstein - 1974 - orchestrator
- The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother - 1975 - orchestrator
- A Little Night Music - 1977 - composer orchestrator, conductor
- Columbo: Murder Under Glass - 1978 - - composer, conductor
- Flying High - 1978 - - composer, conductor
- 3 by Cheever: "O Youth and Beauty", "The Sorrows of Gin" and 3 by Cheever: The 5:48 - 1979 - - composer, conductor
- Rendezvous Hotel - 1979 - - composer, conductor
- Swan Song - 1980 - - composer, conductor
- Blinded by the Light - 1980 - - composer, conductor
- The Jilting of Granny Weatherall - 1980 - - composer, conductor
- Fort Apache the Bronx - 1981 - composer, conductor
- Endless Love - 1981 - composer, conductor
- Reds - 1981 - orchestrator
- The Shady Hill Kidnapping - 1982 - - composer, conductor
- Night of 100 Stars - 1982 - - music arranger
- Sweeney Todd - 1982 - - orchestrator
- Alice in Wonderland - 1983 - - composer, conductor
- I Am the Cheese - 1983 - composer, conductor
- Murder, She Wrote - 1984 - - series composer, conductor
- Concealed Enemies - 1984 - - composer, conductor
- Brotherly Love - 1985 - - composer, conductor
- Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories - 1985 - - series composer, conductor
- The B.R.A.T. Patrol - 1986 - - composer, conductor
- American Masters - 1986 - - composer
- You Ruined My Life - 1987 - - composer, conductor
- Into the Woods - 1991 - - orchestrator
- Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall - 1993 - - orchestrator
- The Last Good Time - 1994 - composer, conductor
- The Birdcage - 1996 - music arranger and adapter, composer, conductor
- Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh - 1998 - - orchestrator
- The Fantasticks - 2000 - music adaptor and arranger, conductor
- Find Me Guilty - 2006 - composer, conductor
- Sweeney Todd - 2007 - music adaptor and orchestrator
- Into the Woods - 2014 - orchestrator
- Beauty and the Beast - 2017 - orchestrator
Awards and nominations