Michael Valenti

Michael Valenti composed, arranged and conducted the music for the Emmy Award winning television series “A Walk Through the 20th Century”. For CBS radio he shared the Peabody Award for “Newsmark.”

His numerous Broadway credits include “Honky Tonk Nights,” “Oh Brother!,” “Clothes for a Summer Hotel” and “Blood Red Roses.” Off-Broadway he composed scores for, among others, “Mademoiselle Colombe” starring Tammy Grimes, which received five Outer Critic Circle Award nominations including two for Valenti’s book and music. His “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is still the longest running children’s musical ever produced in New York, and his score for “Beauty and The Beast” continues to enjoy productions worldwide.

In 1995 Mr. Valenti composed “Processional for a Pontiff,” a large orchestral work which was written for the entrance of Pope John Paul II into Central Park, NY, on the occasion of his celebration of the Eucharist. It was also played at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Pope Benedict, and again at Madison Square Garden for the entrance of Pope Frances. In 1989 he conducted the premier of his dramatic oratorio, “The Way,” which is based on the fourteen stations of the cross and starred Davis Gaines, Judy Kaye and Christine Andreas.

In its permanent repertory The Goldman Memorial Band at Lincoln Center has performed several of Valenti’s pieces. In August 1987 he was given a retrospective at Lincoln Center under the direction of maestro Ainslee Cox, during which the band performed all of his published concert band music and premiered his “Big Apple March.” The following year Valenti was invited by the band to conduct the premier performance of his “Black Hawk March.”