Photos on Homepage by Keith Johnston

Steven turns 75 in 2027!

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About Steven L. Rosenhaus

Steven L. Rosenhaus is a true multi-hyphenate: composer, arranger, conductor, lyricist/librettist, dramaturge for musicals, educator/clinician, author (both non-fiction and speculative fiction), performing musician, and actor. (He has also worked as an editor for sheet music publishers including Warner Brothers Music, and done a fair amount of recording production.)

His career so far spans a half century. He has performed folk music with Pete Seeger, played the mandolin solo in Respighi's Feste Romane on the main stage of Carnegie Hall, and guest conducted three of the U.S. Navy bands including the Naval Academy Band. His over 250 compositions and arrangements are performed across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Dr. Rosenhaus taught composition at New York University's Steinhardt School for over 30 years and still gives master classes, workshops, and clinics on composition and other topics. He is the co-author with Allen Cohen of Writing Musical Theater, and the author of The Concert Composer's Business Handbook and The Concertgoer's Guide to the Symphony Orchestra. He also writes speculative fiction and as of 2026 has three short stories published and one on the way. His acting work includes turns as "Dimitri Kaslov" in the films Life of a Zoe and Life of a Zoe, Part 2, a shtreimel (Hassidic hat) maker for a print ad campaign, a German immigrant in the film Amidst the Cheer, and even an Italian Roman Catholic Bishop in the movie The Wandering Earth 2.

BLOG: COMPOSING MY THOUGHTS

The most recent post is provided below. To subscribe to “Composing My Thoughts,” click HERE.

Short Post (aka Voiceover Work) 

This week I got to do something (mostly) new: voiceover work on a dramatized audiobook. Spousal Unit says I'm always getting roles in which I play someone in authority in some way—clergy, police, doctors, and so on. She's not wrong. I guess I'm a “type.” For this gig things were slightly different. I played a therapist (okay that part is in keeping with the others) but an evil one. Cool.

Birthday Week! 

I suppose living to any age beyond that of stereotypical retirement is a milestone, but my personal benchmark comes next year. This year isn't quite as important, but I'm glad to still be around and very active. Still composing and arranging, still conducting, still writing prose, still acting. (That last thing is to me the weirdest aspect of my life, as I never thought I'd be doing it at all, let alone earning money from it.) To wit:

*This week I'm doing background work 3 days on a new tv show. What I'll be doing isn't anything huge – it is background acting after all – but it's paying work on an interesting project.
* I have two very different string orchestra compositions in the works with two different publishers. Neither will see the light of day for some months, but they are definitely in production. The editors at both companies are a pleasure to work with.
* I've been tossing an idea around for a short story (speculative fiction). The first attempt didn't work. The second attempt, trying a different point of view, didn't work either. The latest attempt has promise, as I'm combining the two perspectives to give a complete picture. This just might work.
* I've booked a voiceover job for a dramatized audiobook at the end of the month too. I've done a little “vo” work before, but this one is even more interesting.
* Lastly, figuring out what I want to compose and, separately, arrange, next. As Desi Arnaz used to sing, “I get ideas.”