Robert Eria Telson (born May 14, 1949) is an American composer, songwriter, and pianist best known for his work in musical theater and film, for which he has received Tony, Pulitzer, and

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations.

Biography

Robert Eria Telson was born in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

, France, in 1949. He grew up in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, son of Paula (née Blackman) and David Telson. He began studying piano when he was five years old. By nine he had already performed a

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

piece on television and given a concert of his own compositions. At 14, he wrote 72 love songs for his first girlfriend, Margie. At 16 and 17 he studied organ,

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tra ...

and

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...

in France with the teacher

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

. He followed this with a degree in music from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1970. Telson also played organ and composed original songs for a rock band called The Bristols, while he was a high school student at

Poly Prep Poly Prep Country Day School (commonly known as Poly Prep) is an independent, co-educational day school with two campuses in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The Middle School (5th to 8th grades) and Upper School (9th to 12th grades) are loca ...

, New York. Several of these were recorded at Decca Studios but never released. At Harvard, he formed another group called Groundspeed, which brought him back to the Decca Studios in 1967 to record a demo recording of his songs "L-12 East" and "In a Dream" with producer

Dick Jacobs Dick Jacobs (29 March 1918 – 20 May 1988) was an American musician, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, music director and an artists-and-repertoire director for several record labels ( Coral, Decca, Brunswick and Springboard). He h ...

. This was released by the label in 1968. After the demise of Groundspeed, Telson formed the band Revolutionary Music Collective, which included then-unknown singer

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

on lead vocals. After graduation from Harvard, Telson's first professional work was as a member of the

Philip Glass Ensemble The Philip Glass Ensemble is an American musical group founded by composer Philip Glass in 1968 to serve as a performance outlet for his experimental minimalist music. The ensemble continues to perform and record to this day, under the musical d ...

from 1972 to 1974. After that began his immersion in ethnic world music, as the pianist of

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

bandleaders Tito Puente and Machito. He was then organist of the gospel group Five Blind Boys of Alabama, for whom he also composed, arranged and produced. Collaborating with director/writer

Lee Breuer Esser Leopold Breuer (February 6, 1937 – January 3, 2021) was an American playwright, theater director, academic, educator, filmmaker, poet, and lyricist. Breuer taught and directed on six continents. Career Breuer was a founding co-artistic ...

, in 1983 he composed the musical '' The Gospel at Colonus'', an adaptation of

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

Oedipus Oedipus (, ; grc-gre, Οἰδίπους "swollen foot") was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby ...

tale, featuring Morgan Freeman, the Five Blind Boys and the

Soul Stirrers The Soul Stirrers were an American gospel music group, whose career spans over eighty years. The group was a pioneer in the development of the quartet style of gospel, and a major influence on soul, doo wop, and Motown, some of the secular musi ...

. '' Newsweek Magazine'' called it: "The best white man’s capturings of the essence of black music since Gershwin's

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' () is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play '' Porgy'', ...

." As a composer, Telson received an

nomination for his song " Calling You" from the movie ''

Bagdad Café ''Bagdad Cafe'' (sometimes ''Bagdad Café'', titled ''Out of Rosenheim'' in Germany) is a 1987 English-language West German film directed by Percy Adlon. It is a comedy-drama set in a remote truck stop and motel in the Mojave Desert in the U.S. s ...

'', as well as Pulitzer, Grammy and

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

nominations for his Broadway musicals, ''The Gospel at Colonus'' and ''Chronicle of a Death Foretold'', an adaptation of the Gabriel García Márquez novel. Telson has composed soundtracks for American, French, German and Argentinian films (including five for Percy Adlon), as well as a ballet score for

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

('' Sextet'') His songs have been recorded by many international artists, such as

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

, Natalie Cole, George Benson,

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, Wynton Marsalis, k.d. lang, Shawn Colvin, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa,

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

, and George Michael. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'': "Mr. Telson has a remarkable talent for relating to musicians from diverse musical cultures and for writing stirring, dramatic music in non-Western European idioms." They also described his music as "a compendium of world music styles brilliantly reimagined, embellished and sometimes made to overlap by Mr. Telson, a classically trained American composer and multi-instrumentalist".

Current work

Telson's latest CD, entitled ''Defying the Distances'' was released in 2019.

Musical theater

* ''Sister Suzie Cinema'' – premiere: 1980 NY Public Theater / collaboration with Lee Breuer * '' The Gospel at Colonus'' – 1983 Brooklyn Academy of Music / collaboration with Lee Breuer/ 1988 Broadway, still touring internationally * ''The Warrior Ant'' – 1988 Brooklyn Academy of Music/ collaboration with Lee Breuer * ''

Chronicle of a Death Foretold ''Chronicle of a Death Foretold'' ( es, Crónica de una muerte anunciada) is a novella by Gabriel García Márquez, published in 1981. It tells, in the form of a pseudo- journalistic reconstruction, the story of the murder of Santiago Nasar by ...

'' – 1995 Broadway/ produced by Lincoln Center * ''Bagdad Cafe'' the Musical: toured in Europe 2004-6/ collaboration with Percy Adlon and Lee Breuer

Discography

* ''The Gospel at Colonus'' (original cast recording) (Nonesuch, 1988) * '' Bagdad Cafe'' (soundtrack) (Island Records, 1989) * ''Calling You'' (Warner Bros., 1992) * ''An Ant Alone - Songs from the Warrior Ant'' (Little Village) (Rykodisk, 1991) * '' La Vida Segun Muriel'' (soundtrack) (Polygram, 1997) * ''Trip'' (Isabel de Sebastian & Bob Telson) (Acqua, 2008) * ''Old LP'' (Acqua (2012), Naxos (2012)) * ''American Dreamers'' (CD Baby, 2016) * ''Defying the Distances'' (2019)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Telson, Bob 1949 births Living people American multi-instrumentalists American musical theatre composers American film score composers American classical composers Songwriters from New York (state) Broadway composers and lyricists People from Cannes Musicians from Brooklyn Harvard University alumni Poly Prep alumni Gramavision Records artists Nonesuch Records artists Island Records artists PolyGram artists Naxos Records artists