ASMAC NYC presents: My time with William David Brohn - A discussion with Christopher Jahnke

William David Brohn (1933-2017) was an American arranger and orchestrator, best known for his scores of musicals such as Miss Saigon, Ragtime and Wicked. He won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations in 1998 for Ragtime and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations three times (for Miss Saigon, Secret Garden, and Ragtime).

Born in Flint, Michigan, Brohn later studied music theory at Michigan State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Music in 1955. While a student, he performed on the contrabass. He then studied composition at the New England Conservatory (1958) and took further education in Tanglewood, Massachusetts and in Salzburg, Austria. He was also mentored by the legendary arranger Robert Russell Bennett.

In the 1960s, Brohn began his career as conductor for the Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Royal Ballet's tours of America. He then turned his focus to orchestration for the next 20 years, producing ballet scores for Agnes de Mille (The Informer), Lar Lubovitch, Twyla Tharp (Everlast), Susan Stroman, and American Ballet Theatre. For Broadway: Timbuktu!, King of Hearts, Brigadoon (revival), Marilyn, The Boys in Autumn, The Wind in the Willows, and Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. For film: Monkey Shines, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Blue Thunder, and War Games.

Brohn was commissioned in 1987 to recreate and adapt Prokofiev’s film scores of Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible. During this time Brohn also created arrangements for the Suite of Dances from Pacific Overtures.

In 1989, Brohn began to collaborate with Cameron Mackintosh, orchestrating approximately ten of his shows while also working on scores for musicals with Trevor Nunn and the Royal National Theatre, London, UK.

Brohn’s orchestration credits between 1989-2017 include: Miss Saigon, 110 in the Shade, Carousel. The Secret Garden, Crazy For You, The Red Shoes, Busker Alley, Oliver!, Martin Guerre, Ragtime, Oklahoma!, High Society, Hey, Mr. Producer, O! Freedom, The Three Musketeers (St. Gallen, Switzerland), Minelli on Minelli, The Witches of Eastwick, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, A Man of No Importance, Sweet Smell of Success, Dessa Rose, Wuthering Heights (ballet by Claude-Michel Schonberg), Wicked, Show Boat, Mary Poppins, Curtains, Gone With The Wind, First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb, Marguerite (Ostrava, Czech Republic), Betty Blue Eyes, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Barnum, and Half a Sixpence.

Additionally, Brohn created the symphonic interpretations Miss Saigon Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, The Ragtime Symphonic Suite, and Wicked: A Fable for Orchestra.

Brohn has also provided arrangements for Liza Minnelli, Marilyn Horne, Renée Fleming, Frederica von Stade, Plácido Domingo and Jerry Hadley, all of which have been recorded, and Sir James Galway for his Sony CD Wind Beneath My Wings. He has provided music for the Boston Pops Orchestra, including various adaptations of Christmas and theatre music, as well as for the Cleveland Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl. Brohn has also collaborated with conductors such as André Previn, John Williams and Keith Lockhart.

A Sony CD of his one-movement Suite from Bernstein's West Side Story for violin and orchestra, featuring Joshua Bell as violin soloist, was released in 2001. Previous to this, Brohn also created solo violin and orchestra arrangements for Joshua Bell’s Gershwin Fantasy album (1998 - London Symphony Orchestra; John Williams, conductor).

In 1996, Bill was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Fine Art from Michigan State University.