× Upcoming Events In the Harris Family Gallery A Brief History of Weathervane Playhouse Mission and Vision Statement For an Enjoyable Experience Board of Trustees and Staff Our Generous Donors Our Hardworking Volunteers Show your Support Past Events
Home In the Harris Family Gallery A Brief History of Weathervane Playhouse Mission and Vision Statement For an Enjoyable Experience Board of Trustees and Staff Our Generous Donors Our Hardworking Volunteers Show your Support
John Kander
music

John Kander (music) is a Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning composer, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award, and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. With frequent collaborator Fred Ebb, he composed the score to dozens of Broadway musicals, including Cabaret, Zorba, Chicago, The Act, Woman of the Year, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Steel Pier.

John Harold Kander was born in 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1951, and he earned a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1954. As a composer, Kander made his Broadway debut in 1962 with A Family Affair, produced by Harold Prince. A year later, in 1963, Kander met the lyricist Fred Ebb. Kander and Ebb began to work together, and their first song, “My Coloring Book,” was nominated for a Grammy Award. Kander and Ebb's first theatrical collaboration, The Golden Gate, never opened on Broadway. However, the score convinced Harold Prince to hire the pair for his next production, Flora, the Red Menace, which opened in 1965, starring Liza Minnelli in her Broadway debut.

Kander's film work includes scores for Something for Everyone (1969), A Matter of Time (1976), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Still of the Night (1982), Blue Skies Again (1983), Places in the Heart (1984), I Want to Go Home (1989), Billy Bathgate (1991), and songs for New York, New York (1977), Cabaret (1972), Funny Lady (1975) and French Postcards (1979).

Kander and Ebb also collaborated on music for several television specials. In 1974 they won an Emmy Award and Grammy Award for their work on Liza with a Z. They won another Emmy in 1993 for Liza Minnelli in London. Other television projects featured Goldie Hawn, Shirley MacLaine, and Michael Baryshnikov.

In 2000, Kander and Ebb were working together on The Visit, based on a play by Friedrich Durrenmatt. After Fredd Ebb passed away in 2004, Kander completed the project with playwright Terrence McNally.

In addition to his Tonys, Grammys, and Emmys, Kander received honorary doctorate degrees from Oberlin College and Niagara University, the President's Award from the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.

John Kander
music

John Kander (music) is a Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning composer, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award, and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. With frequent collaborator Fred Ebb, he composed the score to dozens of Broadway musicals, including Cabaret, Zorba, Chicago, The Act, Woman of the Year, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Steel Pier.

John Harold Kander was born in 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1951, and he earned a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1954. As a composer, Kander made his Broadway debut in 1962 with A Family Affair, produced by Harold Prince. A year later, in 1963, Kander met the lyricist Fred Ebb. Kander and Ebb began to work together, and their first song, “My Coloring Book,” was nominated for a Grammy Award. Kander and Ebb's first theatrical collaboration, The Golden Gate, never opened on Broadway. However, the score convinced Harold Prince to hire the pair for his next production, Flora, the Red Menace, which opened in 1965, starring Liza Minnelli in her Broadway debut.

Kander's film work includes scores for Something for Everyone (1969), A Matter of Time (1976), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Still of the Night (1982), Blue Skies Again (1983), Places in the Heart (1984), I Want to Go Home (1989), Billy Bathgate (1991), and songs for New York, New York (1977), Cabaret (1972), Funny Lady (1975) and French Postcards (1979).

Kander and Ebb also collaborated on music for several television specials. In 1974 they won an Emmy Award and Grammy Award for their work on Liza with a Z. They won another Emmy in 1993 for Liza Minnelli in London. Other television projects featured Goldie Hawn, Shirley MacLaine, and Michael Baryshnikov.

In 2000, Kander and Ebb were working together on The Visit, based on a play by Friedrich Durrenmatt. After Fredd Ebb passed away in 2004, Kander completed the project with playwright Terrence McNally.

In addition to his Tonys, Grammys, and Emmys, Kander received honorary doctorate degrees from Oberlin College and Niagara University, the President's Award from the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.