Jonathan Firstenberg is an American television composer, music supervisor, producer and consultant.

Biography

Jonathan Firstenberg was born in 1949 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and grew up on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, in

Floral Park Floral Park is an incorporated village in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 16,172 at the 2020 census. Floral Park is at the western border of Nassau County, mainly in the Town of Hempstead, while the ...

and Woodbury. Inspired by his parents, Firstenberg studied different varieties of music in his youth, and started playing rock and orchestral music with a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. When he graduated from college, Firstenberg started his career in music by taking a job with Hansen Music Publishing, in New York City. He is married to Natalie Vicki (Hillman) Firstenberg, a transpersonal therapist and minister, specializing in healing through relationships, especially couples' counseling, and those who are longing to deepen their creative expression. In 2005, Firstenberg auditioned and was recruited to lead the Universal Production Music Library, a division of Universal Music Publishing Group, as

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

. In this role, he is responsible for carrying out the vision and mission of Universal Music Publishing Group, CEO David Renzer and Scott James, Sr. V.P. Licensing for Film and Television and New Technologies. Firstenberg stated in an interview that he hopes to inspire composers, songwriters, producers, musicians and vocalists to invest in their music efforts by placing some of their works into the library system.

Credits

*'' Cats, Cops and Stuff'' (1990) *'' Born to be Mild'' (1990) *'' The Long Kiss Goodnight'' (1996) *'' Santa Barbara'' *''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...

'' *'' Another World'' *'' Capitol'' *''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' *''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' *''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

Awards and nominations

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

s: *Won, 1993, Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: " Santa Barbara" (shared with

Dominic Messinger Dominic Messinger is an American television composer. He began his work in soap opera music on ''General Hospital'', followed by Santa Barbara and has since composed for reality series and documentaries including '' Intervention'', '' Brace for Im ...

and Rick Rhodes) *Won, 1996, Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series for: "

" (shared with

Robyn Cutler Robin Miriam Carlsson (; born 12 June 1979), known professionally as Robyn (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, record producer, and DJ. Her 1995 debut album ''Robyn Is Here'' produced two ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 singles: " Do You Know ( ...

, Michael Licari, Rick Rhodes,

Ron Cohen Ron Cohen is an American television composer and soundtrack writer. He graduated from the California State University, in Northridge. Positions held * Composer on '' Leeza'' and ''The Guiding Light''. * Music writer on '' Go Tigers!'' * Sound trac ...

John Henry Kreitler John Henry Kreitler (February 6, 1948 – January 28, 2024), also credited as John Henry, was an American Emmy-winning composer of contemporary classical, film, television and theatre music. He was a songwriter, producer and publisher, and co-foun ...

, Wes Boatman,

Danny Lawrence Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to and short for the male name Daniel.🖾🖾 People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer * Danny Baker (born 1957), English jo ...

, John E. Young, David Grant,

Barry De Vorzon Barry De Vorzon (born July 31, 1934) is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He worked as a pop musician during the 1960s and co-founded Valiant Records, before being known as a composer of film and television scores ...

, Richard Hazard, Edward Dzubak, and Alan Bellink)

Sources

External links

*
Reel Money - A real-world guide to getting music into film and TV soundtracks.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firstenberg, Jonathan Living people American male composers 21st-century American composers Musicians from Brooklyn 1949 births People from Floral Park, New York People from Woodbury, Nassau County, New York 21st-century American male musicians