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20th Century Contemporary American

SONDHEIM, Stephen

Black and white photo of Stephen Sondheim

Born in New York, NY, Mar 22, 1930
Died in Roxbury, CT, Nov 26, 2021

  • Stephen Sondheim was a groundbreaking musical theater composer and lyricist.
  • Sondheim showed an inclination for music at an early age. By 15, he had already written his first musical. As a teenager, Sondheim studied with family friend Oscar Hammerstein, and in his early 20s, he studied with composer Milton Babbitt.
  • Sondheim’s first Broadway success was as the lyricist for Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957), followed by Jule Styne’s Gypsy (1959).
    • Sondheim’s first success as both composer and lyricist was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962).1
  • Sondheim is considered to be among the most significant American composers of all time, particularly for his redefining the musical theater genre into a serious art form that explore the human condition and provide meaningful social commentary.

Learn More
Biography and chronology via Portland Center Stage

Sources

  1. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Stephen Sondheim,” Encyclopedia Britannica (2025), accessed October 31, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Stephen-Sondheim.

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