Pianist, conductor, and music director Adam Rothenberg is a versatile collaborative artist who has performed throughout North America and Europe in a wide array of projects, including chamber music, orchestral concerts, opera, and musical theatre. He was the Associate Music Director of the Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd, after serving as the Assistant Conductor of the Broadway revival of Company and the Associate Conductor of the national tour of Miss Saigon, where he performed at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. Other Broadway credits as pianist/keyboardist include Illinoise, Spamalot, Chicago, and the upcoming revival of Sunset Boulevard. Last season, he conducted Watch Night, the inaugural opera to be presented at the newly built Perelman Arts Center at the World Trade Center. He is currently the music supervisor and arranger of Endless, a new musical in development by Julia Riew, slated for a world premiere in Korea at Kwanglim Arts Center in 2025, and will music direct a new off-Broadway production of Michael John LaChiusa’s See What I Wanna See this fall.
Hailed by Opera News as a pianist of “jaw-dropping virtuosity,” Adam is passionate about pushing the boundaries of classical music and bridging the gap with other genres and art forms. Equally at home in a Broadway pit as he is in a recital hall or on the cabaret stage, he has served as pianist/music director for such luminaries as Patti LuPone, Josh Groban, Bernadette Peters, and Matt Doyle. He has performed as an orchestral musician with the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and the American Ballet Theatre Orchestra, in addition to art song recitals at Caramoor and Tanglewood, where he was a two-time Vocal Piano Fellow. He recently performed at Alice Tully Hall with soprano Mikaela Bennett in a recital that included classical art song, jazz standards, and a world premiere by singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane. Other recital highlights include a program with violinist Chelsea Starbuck Smith as part of the Charles Ives Music Festival in Danbury, CT that explored the relationship between folk music and classical works, including several original arrangements. As a recording artist, he can be heard on the cast albums of Sweeney Todd (2023 Broadway revival) and Baby (2021 off-Broadway revival, co-producer), as well as the soundtrack of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.
A native of Syracuse, NY, Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and Mathematics from Northwestern University, and a master’s degree in Collaborative Piano from the Juilliard School, where he was the proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship.