Biography
Eric composes art songs and writes music for theater, television and film. He also writes lyrics for music-theater as well as specialty television programs.
Tokio Confidential, an original music-theater piece for which Eric wrote the music, lyrics and libretto, premiered at Atlantic Stage 2 in New York City, and a recording was released by Broadway Records.
Eric was commissioned by Virginia Stage Company to write the music, lyrics and libretto for The Rising Sea, a musical about science, poetry and climate change, that had its world premiere in Norfolk. The National Endowment for the Arts and The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project provided funding for the production.
Eric composed the score for Frog Kiss, a musical based on the novel, The Frog Prince, by Stephen Mitchell. Winner of the Global Search For New Musicals, Frog Kiss, with book and lyrics by Charles Leipart, had its regional US premiere at Virginia Stage Company. It has been also been performed in Toronto, Cardiff and Chicago, and was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, as well as by Theatre League of Kansas City, Missouri as part of its festival of new musicals. Frog Kiss was also performed at the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
Eric's score for The Doctor's Wife, a musical adaptation of Flaubert's Madame Bovary with book and lyrics by Charles Leipart, earned him an Opera-Musical Theatre Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Eric composed the score for Espresso Trasho (book and lyrics by Charles Leipart), a musical adaptation of The School for Scandal, which had its world premiere at the New York International Fringe Festival. It was subsequently presented at the Arts Theatre in London under the auspices of Mercury Musical Developments.
Eric wrote the music and lyrics for Young Tom Edison, a musical theater piece for young audiences, commissioned and produced by Theatreworks/USA. Young Tom Edison, with a book by Peter Parnell, opened at the Promenade Theater in New York City, after which it commenced a national tour. It subsequently played at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. A recording was released by Original Cast Records. Eric was also commissioned by Theatreworks/USA to write the music and lyrics for The Civil War: The South Carolina Black Regiment (book by Tanya Barfield), which also toured nationally. Eric has written specialty material for the Discovery Kids television network, and his music has been heard on television's Sesame Street.
Eric was a composer of the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway revue Whoop Dee Doo!, which received two Drama Desk Awards and a recording of which was released by RCA Victor. He was commissioned to write the official processional music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Gay Games, which was first performed at Yankee Stadium in New York City.
Eric wrote vocal arrangements for the Atlantic Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum and Seattle Repertory Theatre productions of The Cider House Rules. He also wrote vocal arrangements for the Second Stage Theatre production of Uncommon Women & Others and the Broadway production of The Sisters Rosensweig, both by Wendy Wasserstein.
Eric is a member of Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, the Dramatists Guild and ASCAP, from which he has received numerous awards. He studied at the New England Conservatory and holds degrees from Yale and Harvard Universities. Eric is a recipient of a Japan-United States Arts Program Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council as well as a grant from the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust. He has been a member of the Lehman Engel BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, The ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop and the Playwright/Directors Unit of the Actors Studio.