Solon Snider Sway is Lecturer in Music Directing and Choral Programs at Princeton, where he directs the Playhouse Choir and Playhouse Chamber Orchestra and teaches courses through a joint appointment in The Lewis Center for the Arts and The Department of Music. He also works with Trenton Arts at Princeton as Director of the Trenton Youth Singers. As a conductor and ensemble director, Solon aims to facilitate creative and welcoming communities full of experimentation, growth, wonder, and imagination.
In addition to his work at Princeton, Solon works as a Music Director & Conductor for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Regional events and shows. Recent selected projects include Second Stage’s 2022 Gala, The Winter’s Tale (Princeton University), The Catacombs (by TONY-nominated Larry Kirwan), The Shape of a Child (Avaloch Music Institute), The Hello Girls (Princeton University), Sondheim on Sondheim and No for An Answer (Theater 2020), The Fantasticks (Infinity Theatre Company), Matilda (Ghostlight Theater Camp), Romeo and Juliet (Saratoga Performing Arts Center), and Snow White (Ragtag Theatre).
Recent composition and writing credits include Thebes (Rattlestick Theater and Quinnipiac University), The Swallow and the Tomcat (Yale Summer Cabaret’s “Verano Season”), The Tempest (Yale School of Drama), Thank You for Trying (United Solo), Crescent City Baby (Yale University), and Cupidity (Yale University). Solon’s original concert music has been performed by the PRISM Saxophone Quartet, The Baltimore Choral Arts Society, UMBC’S RUCKUS Ensemble, The Whiffenpoofs, The Walden School Players, The Peabody Preparatory Percussion Ensemble, and more. He has also written and arranged music for video games, television, choirs, and a cappella groups. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Walden School, a music education program focused on innovative and inclusive music composition/improvisation pedagogy and on modeling community building through music.
Solon previously taught music and theater at The Dalton School After-School Program and has given lectures and full-length concerts on American music history through the Road Scholars Program. He teaches voice, piano, and musicianship lessons through his private studio and can often be found playing piano for ensembles and events around NYC. He has been an improv pianist for The Story Pirates comedy group and an accompanist, vocalist, and arranger with The Young People’s Chorus of NYC.
Solon holds a B.A. in Music (Intensive) and Theatre Studies, with distinction in both majors, from Yale University. At Yale, he studied music theatre composition with Jeanine Tesori, Scott Frankel, and Josh Rosenblum, lyric writing with Michael Korie, and libretto writing with Marsha Norman. He also served as music director for The Duke’s Men of Yale and the world-renowned Yale Whiffenpoofs, with whom he produced the CARA-nominated album, “On the Bumpy Road.” Solon is also a huge fan of avocados!
Feel free to reach out to Solon with any questions about The Playhouse Ensembles, Trenton Youth Singers, or Music Theater at Princeton.
Recent News:
Saturdays Look A Little Different at the Lewis Arts Complex: Introducing the Trenton Youth Singers
TAP Welcomes Solon Snider Sway | Trenton Arts at Princeton, July 2022
Solon Snider Sway music directs Second Stage Theater’s Fall Gala | Broadway World, Oct. 2022
Music direction by Solon Snider Sway at Second Stage Theater’s 2022 Gala | Playbill, Oct. 2022
