Lyn Koenning

Biography

Hi — I’m Lyn Koenning, an award-winning music director based in Austin, TX with over thirty years’ conducting and performing experience for productions at Austin Playhouse, TexARTS, Summer Stock Austin, ZACH, The Paramount Theatre, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance, and Zilker Theatre Productions.

I headed up the musical theatre program at UT Austin for nine years, and my former students perform on Broadway and national tours, cruise ships, in Disney parks and regional theaters across the country, and on television, films and web series.

Favorite recent and upcoming projects:

Since 2022 I've been the music director/conductor for the Texas Cultural Trust's Texas Medal of Arts Awards and Texas Young Masters Awards.

In 2023, I music directed the development of a new musical composed and directed by Todrick Hall and subbed in on keyboards alongside Kathy Valentine, original bassist for the Go-Go’s, in a production of “Head Over Heels” at The Topfer at Zach (Austin, TX).

In 2024, I music directed and piano/conducted "Legally Blonde" at Zilker Hillside Theatre (nominated for Austin Theatre Critics Award for Outstanding Musical Direction) with a record-breaking summer audience count of over 50,000.

2025 included music directing/piano conducting "Nunsense: The Mega Musical" (educational theatre at St. Edward's University in Austin), professional productions of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (Winner of Austin Theatre Critics Award for Outstanding Musical Direction) and "Bye Bye Birdie" plus a cabaret with three-time Tony-winning producer Marc Seriff and a new musical development project with Tony-winning producer Hunter Regian.

On deck for 2026: Music directing/piano conducting "Urinetown" (educational theatre at St. Edward's University in Austin), professional productions of "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" and "Rock of Ages" plus some fun cabarets and a one-night-only concert with some old friends at The Topfer at Zach.

I’ve used my skills as a classically-trained pianist to accompany master classes for Broadway actors and directors including Kathleen Marshall, Billy Porter, Laura Osnes, Mandy Gonzalez, Ramin Karimloo, Judy Kuhn, Tonya Pinkins, Joseph Leo Bwarie, and J. Quinton Johnson...

...and to help develop new musicals with Tony- and Grammy-winning directors, playwrights, and composers like Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis (Urinetown), Cheri Steinkellner (Sister Act, Cheers), David Zippel (City of Angels), Matthew Wilder (Mulan, Hercules), Berton Averre (co-writer of 1979’s #1 song, My Sharona), and Tony-winning producers Natasha Davison and Hunter Regian.

If you're looking for a highly collaborative musical director or experienced musical theatre teaching artist, shoot me an email!