About us

Hershey Felder is an internationally acclaimed actor, playwright, pianist, composer, director, filmmaker, producer, and cultural entrepreneur whose extraordinary career has brought together the worlds of theatre, music, film, opera, and international cultural leadership. Through a unique combination of virtuoso musicianship, dramatic storytelling, historical scholarship, and cinematic vision, Felder has created a body of work that has reached audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and established him as one of the most distinctive artistic voices of his generation.

A Steinway Concert Artist, Felder has performed thousands of acclaimed performances on major stages throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and beyond. His landmark theatrical works—including George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, Beethoven As I Knew Him, Maestro: Leonard Bernstein, Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin, Our Great Tchaikovsky, A Paris Love Story, and many others—have brought the lives, passions, struggles, and music of history’s greatest composers to contemporary audiences.

Since the premiere of George Gershwin Alone, Felder has become internationally recognized as the foremost creator and performer of theatrical works about composers. His productions have enjoyed extended and sold-out engagements in some of the world’s most important cultural centers, including Broadway, London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and throughout Europe. His work has broken box-office records, received major critical acclaim, and introduced generations of audiences to classical music through an entirely new form of music theatre.

Felder’s extraordinary range extends well beyond the traditional stage. As a filmmaker and producer, he founded Live From Florence, an international arts production and broadcasting company dedicated to bringing exceptional theatre and music to audiences worldwide. His filmed works include Noble Genius: Chopin & Liszt, The Assembly, Dante and Beatrice, Violetta, Mozart and Figaro in Vienna, Anna & Sergei, Puccini, Before Fiddler, Great American Songs and the Stories Behind Them, among many others. Through these productions, Felder has pioneered a distinctive form of cinematic music theatre, allowing performances created for the stage to reach audiences far beyond the theatres in which they originated.

His creative journey has also led him into the world of opera. In 2023, Felder premiered his original Italian opera, Il Quarto Uomo (The Fourth Man), at the magnificent ancient Roman Theatre of Fiesole near Florence, in collaboration with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The work tells the extraordinary true story of the Martyrs of Fiesole—three young Carabinieri who, during the Nazi occupation of Tuscany in August 1944, sacrificed their lives in order to save ten Italian civilians.

At the center of Felder’s opera is also the forgotten story of Francesco Naclerio, the “fourth man” and sole survivor of the tragedy. By bringing Naclerio’s story back into the light, Felder transformed a largely forgotten episode of Italian history into a powerful work of contemporary opera, exploring courage, sacrifice, memory, love of country, and the moral choices of individuals in extraordinary circumstances. Featuring an international cast led by acclaimed opera star Nathan Gunn, Il Quarto Uomo marked a significant new chapter in Felder’s artistic career and established him as a contemporary composer of opera with a profound connection to Italy and its history.

Felder’s relationship with Italy has subsequently become an increasingly important part of his international artistic vision. As Artistic Director of Firenze On Stage and the historic Teatro Niccolini in Florence, he has helped transform one of Italy’s great historic theatres into an international cultural destination. Under his artistic leadership, the theatre has welcomed celebrated figures from theatre, film, television, music, dance, and literature, creating a program that connects Florence with the most exciting artistic voices from around the world.

His Florence work reflects a larger philosophy that has defined his career: the belief that great art should transcend national and disciplinary boundaries. From the great concert stages of North America to London’s West End, from Broadway to Tuscany, Felder has continually created bridges between American and European artistic traditions.

His career has also included collaborations and presentations involving some of the most celebrated artists of contemporary culture, further reflecting his extraordinary ability to bring together major figures from the worlds of theatre, cinema, music, and the performing arts.

A former Scholar-in-Residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music, Felder is also a prolific composer whose work encompasses orchestral music, chamber music, musical theatre, opera, recordings, and film. Through Eighty-Eight Entertainment and Hershey Felder Presents, he continues to develop ambitious international productions that combine music, history, literature, visual storytelling, and live performance.

Whether performing at the piano, portraying one of history’s great musical figures, composing a new opera, directing a film, producing an international theatrical event, or revitalizing a historic European theatre, Hershey Felder has consistently pursued the same artistic mission: to make great music and great stories immediate, emotional, intelligent, and unforgettable.

Today, Hershey Felder stands as one of the most original and internationally accomplished figures in contemporary music theatre—a rare artist whose career encompasses the concert stage, Broadway, the West End, film, opera, and cultural leadership. His work continues to connect audiences across continents with the enduring power of music, history, and the human imagination.