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Cynthia Kortman Westphal

Maestra Classes Offered

Shows

Cynthia Kortman Westphal

  • She/Her
  • Biography

    Cynthia Kortman Westphal is currently music director for the first North American Tour of Come From Away. She was an original company member of The Lion King on Broadway where she was associate music director, conductor, and keyboard player for seven years. In 2013-2014, she was associate music director for the Broadway production of the Tony-nominated A Christmas Story—the Musical. In addition, she music directed the first national tour of A Christmas Story, and played keyboards for the shows' run at Madison Square Garden. Other Broadway credits include: The Gershwins Fascinating Rhythm (music supervisor, music director, conductor) and Miss Saigon (keyboards). Regionally, in 2017, she music directed Man of La Mancha at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, where she was part of the first ever all-female creative team in the history of that historic theatre. Additional regional credits include: Hartford Stage Company and Arizona Theatre Company (The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm), The Goodman Theatre in Chicago (Randy Newman's Faust), and North Shore Music Theatre (Shrek). Ms. Westphal toured as a pianist with opera singer Andrea Bocelli on two U.S. tours and has also worked as an orchestral pianist with Eos Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, and Flint Symphony. As a keyboard player for Broadway National Tours in Detroit, she has played for such shows as Wicked, In The Heights, Les Miserables, Legally Blonde, Sister Act, Spamalot, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Peter Pan with Cathy Rigby, The King and I, and Annie. Of the over 50 musicals she has music directed, additional favorites include: She Loves Me, 1776, Carousel, Company, Caroline, or Change, Ragtime, and The Who’s Tommy. Television appearances include Good Morning America, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Rosie Show on OWN, and Great Performances: Copland's America on PBS. She can be heard on the Grammy Award-winning cast album of The Lion King and the Grammy nominated album Celluloid Copland with Eos Orchestra. Ms. Kortman Westphal is on faculty at the University of Michigan in the Musical Theatre Department. At U-M she has developed new musicals with the band Air Supply, and with Glenn Frey of the Eagles. She is also a Certified Master Teacher in Estill Voice Training.

    Professional Experience

    • Broadway
    • Regional
    • Concerts/Cabaret
    • Education
    • Tours

    Regions

    • NYC/Tri-State Area

    Maestra Expertise

    • Music Director/Conductor (Pianist)
    • Vocal Director and/or Choral Prep
    • Vocal Arranger
    • Instrumentalist/Pit Musician
    • Audition Pianist
    • Class/Voice Lesson/Rehearsal Pianist
    • Rehearsal Pianist
    • Voice Teacher (Private Studio)
    • Voice Teacher (Educational Institution)

    Primary Instruments

    • Accordion
    • Piano
    • Synthesizer
    • Voice

    Software

    • Finale
    • Sibelius

    Affiliations

    • THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS (AFM)
    • NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF SINGING (NATS)