Jason Howland is a musical theatre composer, playwright, conductor, music director, and producer. In 2015, he won the

Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award is generally given to the album producer, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more play ...

for his work producing the cast recording of '' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical''. He also wrote the music for the Broadway musical '' Little Women''.

Biography

Howland was born June 16, 1971, in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts ('' Little Women'' is set in New England). As a teenager, he attended Berkshire Ensemble for the Theatre Arts (a camp for aspiring musical-theatre composers and librettists). While at

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

, he was called to be an intern on the 1992 Vivian Matalon workshop of '' Jekyll & Hyde'' and worked his way up, becoming friendly with both composer

Frank Wildhorn Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical '' Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song " Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whi ...

and arranger James Raitt, and eventually became the music director and conductor of the 1997 Broadway production. In 2002, Howland wrote a play with Larry Pellegrini called ''Blessing in Disguise'' which premiered Off-Broadway. His assorted credits include musical director for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, music supervisor for ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

'' and '' The Civil War'', music director of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'', music director of ''

Taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannic ...

'', and supervising music director/incidental & dance music arrangements/vocal music arrangements of ''

Wonderland Wonderland may refer to: Places Municipalities * Wonderland, California, a ghost town in Plumas County * Wonderland, Ohio, a ghost town in Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Roads, streets, and trails * Wonderland Avenue, a roadway in Laurel Canyon, Los Ang ...

''. He also produced ''

The Lonesome West ''The Lonesome West'' is a play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, part of his Connemara trilogy, which includes '' The Beauty Queen of Leenane'' and ''A Skull in Connemara''. All three plays depict the murderous occurrences in the w ...

'' with Davis. He was the producer of '' Little Women'' with Dani Davis. The original songwriters were released, and Howland stepped down from producing to write the music with lyrics by Mindi Dickstein with a book by Allan Knee. He has also appeared as a guest conductor with the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...

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New Jersey Symphony Orchestra The New Jersey Symphony, formerly the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, is an American symphony orchestra based in the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey Symphony is the state orchestra of New Jersey, performing classical subscription concert serie ...

, Maine State Symphony, and

Memphis Symphony Orchestra The Memphis Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Memphis, Tennessee. The orchestra's primary performing venue is the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. Prior to the formation of the orchestra, classical orchestras had existed ...

. He also has conducted for

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the ...

, Brandy, BeBe and CeCe Winans, Carl Anderson,

Linda Eder Linda Eder (; born February 3, 1961) is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical '' Jekyll & Hyde'', originating the role of Lucy Harris, for which she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award. Eder has performed ...

Sebastian Bach Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian-American singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He has acted on Broadway and ...

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Rob Evan Robert "Rob" Evan is an American actor and singer, best known as the lead performer in numerous Broadway musicals, a performer in national and international tours of musical productions, and a featured vocalist on various music albums. Personal ...

Kate Shindle Katherine Renee Shindle (born January 31, 1977) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and AIDS activist. She is currently serving as the President of the Actors' Equity Association. She was Miss America 1998 in 1998 and Miss Illinois in 1997 ...

Lauren Kennedy Lauren Kennedy (born September 3, 1973) is an American actress and singer who has performed numerous times on Broadway. She is now the producing artistic director of Theatre Raleigh in her home state of North Carolina. Education Kennedy was bor ...

Davis Gaines Davis Gaines (born January 21, 1954, Orlando, Florida) is an American stage actor. He has performed as the Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical '' The Phantom of the Opera'' over 2,000 times, on Broadway, on tour, in Los Angeles, and in ...

the Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

, and

Lizz Wright Elizabeth LaCharla Wright (born January 22, 1980) is an American jazz and gospel singer. Life and career Wright was born in the small town of Hahira, Georgia, one of three children and the daughter of a minister and the musical director of t ...

. His other works include writing the score for ''Handel’s Messiah Rocks: A Joyful Noise'' and writing the score for the webisode series ''The Broadroom''. He also was working on two new musicals, ''Mariel'' and ''Quickstep''.

Works

*'' Little Women'', 2004 *''Blessing in Disguise'', 2002 *'' A Killer Party'', 2020 *'' Paradise Square'', 2022

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howland, Jason American male composers American musical theatre composers Living people People from Williamstown, Massachusetts Williams College alumni Grammy Award winners Year of birth missing (living people)