Elisabeth_Slider © VBW

Sylvester Levay Musik, Orchestrierung und Chorsätze

Silvester Levay © VBW

Sylvester Levay was born in Hungary and came to Germany in the early 1960s. From 1963 to 1972 he worked with various orchestras throughout Europe. He moved to Munich and made a name for himself as a composer, conductor, pianist and arranger. While working with stars such as Udo Jürgens, Gitte Haenning, Katja Ebstein, Penny McLean and Donna Summer, he met Michael Kunze. They had their joint international breakthrough in 1975 with the hit "Fly, Robin, Fly", for which they received a Grammy Award in the category "Rhythm and Blues". Other hits followed, such as "Get Up And Boogie" and "Lady Bump." Between 1977 and 1980, Sylvester Levay composed and produced for internationally known artists such as Elton John, Donna Summer and Sister Sledge. As a new challenge, he then concentrated on composing film music. His classical music training and experience as a rock and pop composer made him a sought-after composer in Hollywood within a few years. Sylvester Levay lived and worked in Hollywood for 20 years. During this time, world stars such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas were among his clients. He is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts Sciences (NARAS) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) and lectured on film composition at the American universities UCLA and USC. In German television productions, Sylvester Levay wrote the music for the "Golden Lion", the "German Television Award", the "Bambi" or the television series "Medicopter 117", among others. In Hollywood, he set the successful series "Airwolf" to music. Since the 1990s, he has created the musicals HEXEN HEXEN, ELISABETH and MOZART! with Michael Kunze. Again he was internationally successful, especially with ELISABETH, which has been performed in 14 countries so far. Commissioned by the Japanese production company TOHO, Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze created the musical MARIE ANTOINETTE, which premiered in Tokyo in November 2006 and had its German-language premiere in Bremen in 2009. Also in 2006, REBECCA, based on the novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, enjoyed great success in Vienna and was subsequently seen in 12 countries. In April 2014, his latest collaboration with Michael Kunze, the musical LADY BESS premiered in Tokyo and was followed in 2016 by his pop musical THE CREST OF THE ROYAL FAMILY. Titled SYLVESTER LEVAY & HIS FRIENDS - THE MUSICALS OF KUNZE & LEVAY IN CONCERT, a series of gala concerts featuring the songs of Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze were held at the Shanghai Culture Square Theatre in China in September 2019. This was followed by the German premiere of LADY BESS in St. Gallen on February 19, 2022.