An Interview with Composer Stephen Schwartz (Part 1)
By Dawn Allcot, N2Arts Correspondent
Advice to young composers from a master musician
 

tephen Schwartz had made it big as a Broadway composer before many N2Arts readers were even born. But his work has stood the test of time. “Godspell,” one of his most recognized works, is still performed by high school and college drama clubs across the U.S.

More than three decades after the release of “Godspell,” Schwartz continues to create new works. His scores and songs for the feature animated films “Pocahontas” and “Prince of Egypt,” and, more recently, the Broadway hit musical, “Wicked,” has created a whole new generation of admirers of his work. 

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Schwartz and discuss his distinguished career as a composer and musician. He generously offered his advice to a new generation of composers and musicians.

Q: How has the theatre/film music industry changed since you began?

A: The whole nature of the music industry has changed… But I think what has changed about musical theater, unfortunately, is that it’s harder to break into for young people and for people starting out than it was when I started. The costs have escalated dramatically [and] producers are less likely to take risks. When I first started out, in the early 70s… the costs were lower doing a show in New York, and there was a much more viable off-Broadway than there is now. It was easier to break in. Now… you have to be really patient and persevere.

Q: What are some of the things that kids can do to increase their odds of becoming successful?

A: Gain actual experience at writing something and seeing it produced. You can start to learn what works and what doesn’t work, not theoretically, but practically. I went to school at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh. I learned a lot about theatre as far as the actual classes that I took, but, in addition, and perhaps more importantly, [I was involved in] an organization called Scotch & Soda, and they did an original musical every year. I got involved with writing the shows for that organization. That was an enormously valuable experience for me. One of those shows, which was then called “Pippin, Pippin” turned into “Pippin” and was on Broadway six or seven years later. Now, I’m not saying that’s likely to happen. I’m not saying go and write a show in college and expect it to get on Broadway. What I am saying is that it’s very helpful to gain that kind of experience. It really does help for people to know who you are and to have something to show them so that they can recognize whether they think you have talent.

The other [thing] I often tell young people is to get yourself somewhere where the kind of work you want to do is being done. [For instance,] the Bay Area is an excellent place. It’s full of small theaters. It has a very strong community of actors to draw upon. That’s an excellent place to start.

Q: What was your musical education like going through school? What music groups were you in? Did you have teachers that profoundly affected you?

A: When I was a kid, I got interested in music and I asked my parents to get me a piano. I grew up on Long Island, [New York]. I started taking private lessons with a local teacher. He was a very good teacher. I studied classical piano with him, and a little bit of theory. And I also took some guitar when I was in high school. Because I was in the New York area, I also went to Juilliard on the weekends to their preparatory division and continued to study piano. Also, there, I studied composition and orchestration and more theory.

Q: You mention on your website, www.stephenschwartz.com, that you saw your first musical when you were very young, and that’s when you knew you wanted to compose theatrical music. Even before that point, did you know you wanted to be a professional musician?

A: Yes! Yes! I was very interested in music as long as I can remember. Musical talent is something, of course, that shows up very, very early. That’s why there are so many musical prodigies. That’s just the nature of that gift - that it makes itself known very early in life. The same was true in my case. I had always been interested in music. It just got directed toward theatre because when I saw musical theatre, I was completely knocked out by the whole experience. But I think there’s no question that I would always have wanted to do something professionally, to do with music.

Q: What was so different about musical theatre versus writing classical symphonies or pop songs that struck you as unique even at that young age?

A: It’s hard to define, because it was a visceral reaction. It wasn’t something analytical. I think I was all of six or seven years old. It wasn’t as if I said, “Hmm, this looks like the area of music on which I should concentrate.” It just was the area that won me over. And I like all kinds of music. I do like classical forms. When I was younger, I would write sonatas, short orchestral pieces, et cetera. I’ve actually done less and less of it, though I’ve been thinking of getting back to it now. From a career point of view I started to have projects that were getting made into shows, or were going to be films, and then deadlines presented themselves, and so that’s where my focus was.

Dawn Allcot, journalist, editor and music education advocate, has enjoyed school music performances in venues from New York to Australia. As the former editor of Band & Orchestra Product News and a frequent contributor to School Band and Orchestra magazine, she strives to inspire young musicians and their teachers through her writing. Find out more at www.dawnallcot.com. She can be reached by email at dawnallcot@yahoo.com.