While still a student he composed his first theater scores for
Second Square and
Opus Two in 1950 and
Requiem for Georgie in 1951. In that same year Kander received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin. He went on to attend Columbia University where he earned a Master of Arts degree in 1954. During the summers of 1955 to 1957 he worked as the choral director and conductor of the Warwick Musical Theatre in Rhode Island. Kander began to work steadily as a pianist in 1956 when he landed a job for the pre-Broadway run of
The Amazing Adele and
An Evening with Beatrice Lillie in Florida.
The Big Break
Kander believed that his big break in New York came by accident. He went to a club in Philadelphia after seeing a performance of West Side Story. By chance he happened to meet the pianist who asked Kander to substitute for him while he went on vacation. The stage manager for West Side Story then asked Kander to play the auditions for her next show Gypsy. During the auditions Kander met the choreographer, Jerry Robbins, who then suggested that Kander actually write the dance music for the show in 1959.
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