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Biography
At twelve Bruce became friends with Leonard Bernstein, a friendship that lasted nearly thirty years. At fourteen his career as a composer and oboist, specializing on the English Horn, began simultaneously and skyrocketed in tandem. Within a year he was playing under such renowned composer/conductors as Gunther Schuller and Elie Siegmeister. At sixteen he played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood under Erich Leinsdorf and Sir Adrian Boult; seventeen on Broadway in the original cast of
Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead; the National Symphony in New York; on call for the New York Philharmonic and, after a private audition with Leopold Stokowski, the American Symphony.
Steadily turning out new compositions Leonard Bernstein said of his early works that they evinced “real musicality!” and they rapidly began appearing on concert programs at Tanglewood and other venues around the U.S.
Marrying his classical work with the theatre his works have been performed at Lincoln Center, Broadway and Off-Broadway. His songs have been recorded in New York and London (with the London Symphony as the back-up orchestra) in addition to writing the feature song
Five Fingers for Sesame Street as well as choral arrangements for Quincy Jones, Chuck Mangione, Barry Manilow and Stevie Wonder.
His work in the theatre has spanned nearly every discipline in one hundred fifty seven productions including for such legendary producers as David Merrick and Joseph Papp. At nineteen he became the youngest musical director in the history of Broadway and as a conductor/pianist he has worked with Allen & Rossi, Michael Amante, Claire Barry, Orson Bean, Laurie Beechman, Betty Buckley, Brett Butler, Red Buttons, Charlie Callas, Cab Calloway, John Carradine, Jack Carter, Arlene DeMarco, Teresa DeZarn, Joey Faye, Fyvush Finkel, Ian Finkel, Bob Fitch, Four Aces, Four Lads, Patricia Heaton, Allan Jones, Julius LaRosa, Liz Larson, Mal Z. Lawrence, London Lee, Peter Lemongello, Mayor John Lindsay, Avon Long, Joni Mitchell, New Chordettes, Paige O'Hara, Betsy Palmer, Cliff Robertson, Nipsey Russell, Richard Shull, June Valli, Fran Warren and Irwin C. Watson. Other co-performers, composers and conductors include: Henk Badings, Ara Berberian, Nico Castel, Phyllis Curtin, Anne Elgar, Candy Finch, Ezio Flagello, Dizzy Gillespie, Batyah Godfrey, William Hellermann, Gerald Humel, Robert Jones,
Gene Krupa, Mike Longo, Ursula Mamlok, Jane Marsh, Jimmy Merrit, James Moody,
Vladimir Padwa, Shulamit Ran, Judith Raskin, John Reardon, Jose Serebrier, George Shirley, Beverly Sills, Joanna Simon,
Veronica Tyler and Pinchas Zuckerman. He has appeared on such television shows as
Entertainment Tonight and the Joan Rivers Show and, as an actor, on
One Life To Live.
A writer of fiction as well as music, Bruce's catalogue includes murder mystery novels, short stories, plays, a screenplay and numerous magazine articles.
Recent commissions include a Sonata for xylophone and piano for renowned xylophonist Ian Finkel and
Scottish Blues for bass flute and piano, Vocalise for soprano,
alto flute and piano and a
Flute Sonata for British flutist Andrew Allen. He
has recently completed a set of pieces for bassoon solo, Bassoon Works, and a Trio
for
flute,
oboe and clarinet.
A native of New York City, Bruce lives with his wife, actress Lydia Franklin, and their dog Walter.
Classical Music Theatre Works Songs Fiction & Other Writings
Biography Commentary & Reviews Notes Listening Room Photos Contact Purchase Music