Scott Wasserman (born September 27, 1988) is an American musician,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

orchestrator Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orch ...

musical director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

, and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

programmer who has worked on many shows both on and

off Off or OFF may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Off'' (video game), a video game by Mortis Ghost. *Sven Väth, German DJ and singer who uses the pseudonym OFF * ''Off'' (album), by Ciwan Haco, 2006 * ''Off!'' (album), by Off! * Off!, an Ameri ...

Broadway. He originated the technical role of

Ableton Ableton AG is a German music software company that produces and distributes the production and performance program Ableton Live and a collection of related instruments and sample libraries, as well as their own hardware controller Ableton Push. ...

Programmer for ''Hamilton'', and has reprised that role for ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important rol ...

'' and '' Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812''.

Background

Wasserman was born in East Hampton,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He attended East Hampton High School, and then

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

School of Music A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

, where he earned a BFA in Music Composition.

Career

Wasserman worked as Music Production Assistant on the Broadway musical ''Leap of Faith'', as well as the 2012 Broadway revival of ''Annie'', on which he worked with orchestrator and arranger

Alex Lacamoire Alex Lacamoire (born May 24, 1975) is a Cuban-American composer, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off-Broadway. He is the recipient of multiple Tony and Grammy A ...

. Wasserman went on to work with Lacamoire on the original Broadway production of ''Hamilton'', for which Lacamoire was Music Director; Wasserman was credited as "Ableton Programmer/Beatmaster", as well as Music Assistant, for ''Hamilton''. Wasserman was involved early in the production, including the show's off-Broadway production at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

, and has since been involved in subsequent productions of ''Hamilton'' as well, training each orchestra and serving as rehearsal DJ. The show's Original Broadway Cast Recording was released digitally on September 25, 2015, and by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

as a two-disc set on October 25, 2015. It won a

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's producers, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more ...

in 2016. Wasserman also worked with Lacamoire on ''

'', for which Wasserman is credited as Ableton Programmer. Wasserman has been interviewed about the way the

software has been incorporated into ''

s multimedia production. The show's Original Broadway Cast Recording was released digitally on February 3, 2017 and in compact disc on February 24, 2017. It won a

in 2018. Wasserman is also credited as Ableton Programmer on the Broadway production of '' Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812'', and as Rehearsal Pianist for the

La Jolla Playhouse La Jolla Playhouse is a nonprofit professional theater on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. History La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under the ...

production of the

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

musical ''

Escape to Margaritaville '' Escape to Margaritaville'' is a 2017 American jukebox musical by Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley, based on the songs of Jimmy Buffett. The plot revolves around a part-time bartender and singer who falls for a career-minded tourist. The show's m ...

''. In addition to his work on stage productions, Wasserman has also contributed to productions on TV and radio. He was a musician and co-orchestrator on ''

21 Chump Street ''21 Chump Street'' is a fourteen-minute one-act musical with book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''In the Heights'', '' Bring It On: The Musical'', and ''Hamilton''. The show was based ...

'', a musical created by

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper, and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals '' In the Heights'' and ''Hamilton'', and the soundtracks for the animated films '' Moana' ...

for ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...

''. He was also a musician and orchestrator for

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

's ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend''. Since 2016, Wasserman has co-hosted a weekly podcast, ''Song Salad'', with writing partner Shannon Deep, in which the duo compose a song about a "random topic" (using

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

's random article function) in a "random music genre".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wasserman, Scott 1988 births American conductors (music) American male composers Grammy Award winners American electronic musicians American musical theatre directors Carnegie Mellon University alumni Living people