Herbert Greene

Herbert Greene (June 16, 1921 – September 25, 1985) was an American conductor, music director and vocal arranger prominent on the Broadway stage in New York City. He won two Tony Awards for the 1958 musical The Music Man. Biography Early life Greene was born on June 16, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York. As a boy, he studied to be an opera singer with Thomas LoMonaco, a protégé of the well-known vocal scientist, Dr. Douglas Stanley. Mr. Greene also aspired to be a composer, and had a body of serious compositions: his Sonata for Cello and Piano was performed in New York City, and The White Notes, a series of piano pieces, was published. Career Greene's career began prodigiously: accepted to sing the lead role in a radio performance of Beethoven's Fidelio for Arturo Toscanini, as well as to sing in the chorus in Leonard Bernstein's 1944 Broadway musical On the Town, he chose the latter. He was given only a walk-on role, but his rendition of New York City's Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia brought the house down, so when a replacement was needed for the lead, they offered it to Greene—who turned it down. Instead, Greene (who had no training in conducting save home practice with recordings) asked Bernstein if he could conduct the show. Bernstein, impressed by the 23-year-old's audacity and convinced that he was a conductor, auditioned him and made him the conductor of matinees. When Bernstein left On the Town, Greene took over as conductor.