Joshua Kight

Class of 2014, Music Performance, Voice and Piano

As a music performance major, Josh was able to hone his musical skills not just as a solo artist, but as a collaborative pianist for singers, instrumentalists, and ensembles, including working closely with the UE Theatre department. All of these experiences served him greatly as he very quickly built a highly successful career in musical theatre after graduating from UE. Since graduating, Josh has been a writer and musician working On & Off Broadway, as well as in Regional Theaters around the US. He was most recently a Music Associate forHamilton. Kight also recently collaborated with Larry Owens to createSondhemia, a concert of Sondheim songs that premiered at Feinstein's/54 Below, along with a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall.

His musicalChairspremiered in New York in 2015 after a successful regional run, and as a fellow of the BMI Workshop, he collaborated with book writer Gary Jaffe to createThe Girl in The Mirror, most recently workshopped in San Francisco and San Jose. Other works include musicalsPityandA Worn Path,the children's musicalAbove the Beanstalkwith Ashley Frary for Tales and Scales Inc., and song cycleThe Cuckoo, which premiered at the National Opera Center. He and collaborator, Annette Storckman, most recently wrote Choreomania!, a musical satire about the dancing plague of 1518.

Josh made his New York cabaret debut at Feinstein's/54 Below with a sold-out evening of original songs. His songs have also been performed at Playwrights Horizons, Symphony Space, The Metropolitan Room, BMI, ASCAP, The New Harmony Project, Weston Playhouse, Cap21, University of Evansville, and Indiana University. His work has been recognized as winner of the Anna Sosenko Grant and finalist for the Ken Davenport Award.

Josh is also a sought-after music director and pianist, with credits including Music Director forThe Wild Partyat Manhattan School of Music,Pump Boys and Dinettesat Weston Playhouse,Marie and Rosettafor New Harmony Project andInto the Woodsat LaGuardia High School, in addition to numerous concert programs. He has been Associate Music Director forThe Wavesat Powerhouse Theater/NY Stage and Film, the Playwrights Horizon lab of James Lapine, Michael Korie, and Tom Kitt'sFlying Over Sunset, led by Kevin Kline and Christine Ebersole, andGuys and Dollsat Weston Playhouse. He frequently accompanies Tony and Olivier Award-winning performers, and has worked with artists including Raul Esparza, Alice Ripley, Danielle Brooks, Lesli Margherita, and Lindsay Mendez.

He has been on faculty at Manhattan School of Music and has co-taught the Sondheim Musical Theater Lab for Columbia University/Barnard College. As a pianist he works with the major New York casting agencies, including Telsey and Co., Tara Rubin Casting and Calleri Casting, and NYU Tisch School for the Arts. He is a proud member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. ASCAP, The Dramatists Guild of America, and The American Federation of Musicians/Local 802.