Alex Lacamoire

Alex Lacamoire (born May 24, 1975) is a Cuban-American musician, arranger, conductor, musical director, music copyist, and orchestrator who has worked on many shows both on and off Broadway. Lacamoire was the musical director and orchestrator, and is currently the music supervisor, of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton.^[1]

Background

Lacamoire was born in Los Angeles, California, and began to play piano at age four. He and his family moved to Miami, Florida when he was 9. He entered Southwood Middle School, a school known for its fine arts program and went on to New World School of the Arts. He then attended Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1995 with the highest GPA in the class (3.97). At Berklee he studied Jazz, Arranging, and Film Scoring.^[2]

Career

Lacamoire's early Broadway credits as Music Director, Arranger, and/or Orchestrator include: Bat Boy: The Musical (for which he also served as Musical Director of the 2001 Original Cast Recording); the 2001 National Tour of Godspell; Stephen Schwartz's Captain Louie (for which he also orchestrated the 2005 original cast recording); and Legally Blonde. He also conducted the cast recording of the 2000 touring cast of Godspell.^[3] Lacamoire was also the Music Director of Wicked in 2005, and Music Supervisor for the musical High Fidelity in 2006, as well as assisting with the orchestrations for that show.

In 2007, Alex Lacamoire earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Orchestrations as Music Director for the Off Broadway production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights. Following its successful Off Broadway run, In The Heights transferred to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway. Lacamoire, along with Bill Sherman, won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations and the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for their combined work on In The Heights.^[4]

In 2012, Lacamoire and Tom Kitt were the Co-Orchestrators of Bring It On the Musical—another collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda—for which Lacamoire also served as Music Supervisor and Arranger. Additionally, Lacamoire wrote the dance arrangements for the 2012 Broadway revival of Annie.

Alex Lacamoire was the Music Director, Orchestrator, and Conductor for the Broadway Production of Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre—continuing in the roles he held during the show's Off-Broadway production at The Public Theater—as well as the Co-Arranger (along with Lin-Manuel Miranda) of the show's score. In late 2016 Lacamoire transitioned to the role of music supervisor, ending his stint of conducting each show, and instead supervising the music at all of the different productions. ^[5] Lacamoire won his second Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre for Best Orchestrations in 2016 for the Broadway production of Hamilton.

The show's Original Broadway Cast Recording was released digitally on September 25, 2015, and by Atlantic Records as a two-disc set on October 25, 2015.^[6] It won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2016, earning Lacamoire his second Grammy as a record producer.

Lacamoire is a regular participant in the well-received Ham4Ham performances which have taken place outside the Richard Rodgers Theatre on days when there are both matinee and evening performances of Hamilton.^[7][8]

Lacamoire is the Music Supervisor of Dear Evan Hansen and will be the Music Director of Carmen Jones, an upcoming Cuban adaptation of George Bizet's Carmen; for the Cuban-American Lacamoire, the latter entails channeling music that’s “in my blood.”^[9]

Awards and nominations

References

1. ↑ "Behind the Music of 'Hamilton' with Alumnus Alex Lacamoire | Berklee College of Music". www.berklee.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-04. 
2. ↑ "Field Effect CD Bios". Gary Fieldman Quartet. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
3. ↑ Staff writers (2008). "Alex Lacamoire Biography". Playbill. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
4. ↑ Alex Lacamoire. "Acceptance Speeches". Tony Night Headquarters. Archived from the original on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-23. 
5. ↑ http://www.earwolf.com/episode/alex-lacamoire-musical-mastermind/
6. ↑ "Satisfied?! Release Dates Set for Hamilton Cast Album". Broadway.com. Retrieved 2016-01-04. 
7. ↑ http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/theater/2015/11/ham4ham_lin_manuel_miranda_and_the_cast_of_hamilton_reward_ticket_lottery.html
8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFl1LYp8GaWCKZVu_7I8ItQxW17JCm5cU
9. ↑ "Behind the Music of 'Hamilton' with Alumnus Alex Lacamoire | Berklee College of Music". www.berklee.edu. Retrieved 2016-01-04. 

External links

• Alex Lacamoire at the Internet Broadway Database
  
• Alex Lacamoire at the Internet Movie Database