William Landry Aronson is a contemporary American composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and writer for musical theater.

Background

Will Aronson holds a B.A. in music from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. As an undergraduate, Aronson was the composer of Hasty Pudding Theatricals

Hasty Pudding Theatricals

The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known informally simply as The Pudding, is a theatrical student society at Harvard University, known for its burlesque musicals and for its status as the oldest collegiate theatrical organization in the United States...

' 154th production, Snow Place Like Home (1), and co-author/lyricist of its 155th production, It's a Wonderful Afterlife (2).

After graduation from Harvard, Aronson studied Music Theory as a Fulbright Scholar at Universität der Künste in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 (3).

Aronson holds an M.F.A. from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program of the Tisch School of the Arts

Tisch School of the Arts

Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....

 at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

. While studying at NYU, he received the ASCAP Frederick Loewe Scholarship (4) and a 2006 Baryshnikov

Baryshnikov

Baryshnikov is a common Russian surname.People with this surname include:* Aleksandr Baryshnikov , Soviet athlete* Mikhail Baryshnikov , Russian American dancer* Yevhen Baryshnikov , Ukrainian footballer...

 Fellowship (5). In 2007 he was named by the Dramatists Guild of America

Dramatists Guild of America

The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market.Membership as an Associate Member is open to any person having written at least one stage play. Active Members are playwrights who have had at least one play...

 as one of "50 to Watch."

Recent work

Aronson wrote the score for a musical version of the Korean movie My Scary Girl

My Scary Girl

My Scary Girl is a 2006 South Korean film, written and directed by Son Jae-gon.- Plot :29 old Hwang Dae-woo is a successful university lecturer of English, yet due to his awkward and shy nature around women, has yet to engage in any romantic relationship...

(book and lyrics by Kyoung-ae Kang), which ran in Seoul, South Korea. The show won Best Original Musical (small theater category) at the 2009 Korea Musical Awards (6). An English language version of the show, with book co-written by Mark St. Germain

Mark St. Germain

-Career:He has written Camping With Henry And Tom , Out of Gas On Lover’s Leap, Forgiving Typhoid Mary , Ears On A Beatle, The God Committee, The Collyer Brother At Home, The Gifts of The Magi , The Book of the Dun Cow,...

 and additional lyrics by William Finn

William Finn

William Alan Finn is an American composer and lyricist of musicals. His musical Falsettos received the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Music and Lyrics and for Best Book.-Biography:...

, ran at Barrington Stage Company's Stage II, July 10–26, 2008 (7). The New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) presented the Korean version of My Scary Girl October 1–4, 2009. My Scary Girl was named the Outstanding New Musical at NYMF for 2009 (8).
A reading of Aronson's musical The Trouble with Doug, co-written with Daniel Maté, was directed by Victoria Clark

Victoria Clark

Victoria Clark is an American musical theatre singer and actress. Clark has performed in many Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television work, and her soprano voice can be heard on numerous cast albums and several animated films...

 at the NAMT theater festival in 2010 (9, 10).

With William Finn

William Finn

William Alan Finn is an American composer and lyricist of musicals. His musical Falsettos received the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Music and Lyrics and for Best Book.-Biography:...

 as lyricist, Aronson has composed songs for Sybille Pearson’s play Next, Mary Testa

Mary Testa

Mary Testa is an American stage actress. She is a two-time Tony Award nominee, for performances in revivals of Leonard Bernstein's On the Town and 42nd Street ....

’s Sleepless Variations, and Finn’s own Songs of Innocence and Experience (11). Aronson was the musical arranger for the Finn-Lapine musical Little Miss Sunshine performed at La Jolla Playhouse in 2011 (12).

In 2011 Aronson composed the score for Mormons, Mothers and Monsters (book and lyrics by Sam Salmond), which ran at Barrington Stage Company's Stage II (13).