Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his prounion musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration. He is known for The Cradle Will Rock and for his OffBroadway translationadaptation of The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. His works also include the opera Regina, an adaptation of Lillian Hellmans play The Little Foxes the Broadway musical Juno, based on Sen OCaseys play Juno and the Paycock and No for an Answer. He completed translationadaptations of Brechts and Weills musical play Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and of Brechts play Mother Courage and Her Children with music by Paul Dessau. Blitzstein also composed music for films, such as Surf and Seaweed and The Spanish Earth , and he contributed two songs to the original 1960 production of Hellmans play Toys in the Attic.
Marc Blitzstein was born in Philadelphia on March 2, 1905, the son of affluent parents. Blitzsteins musical gifts were apparent at an early age he had performed a Mozart piano concerto by the time he was seven. He went on to study piano with Alexander Siloti , and made his professional concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Liszts Eflat Piano Concerto when he was 21.
Source: Wikipedia