Elliot Lawrence has been music director of the Tony Awards show since its television inception. He served as conductor and orchestrator for a host of fondly remembered Broadway productions, among them Bye Bye Birdie, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (for which he received a unique Tony Award for music direction), The Apple Tree, Golden Rainbow, Here's Love, Golden Boy and Sugar. He is the recipient of seven Emmy Awards for as many shows including "Night of 100 Stars" I and II, and the Kennedy Center Honors, for which he was music director for 12 years. Lawrence was music director/conductor for numerous TV specials featuring artists such as Placido Domingo, Patti LaBelle, Comden & Green, Anne Bancroft, Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick, as well as for Irving Berlin's 100th birthday celebration "Miss Liberty" (celebrating the reopening of Ellis Island) and The Songwriters' Hall of Fame. To celebrate July 4, 2000, he shared the podium of the Washington Symphony Orchestra to conduct before a live television audience of 300,000. Just out of college, Lawrence led one of the country's most popular big bands. His recording of "Elevation" is part of the Smithsonian Institution's collection of Big Band jazz. He was composer and conductor for the Oscar Award-winning film Network, as well as numerous other movies. Lawrence and his son Jamie Broza are composers for The Berenstain Bears on Stage as well as The Berenstain Bears Save Christmas.
