Stanley Silverman is a composer, guitarist and musical director whose career spans concert music and theater. Born in New York City, he attended the High School of Performing Arts and studied composition with Leon Kirchner and Darius Milhaud. As a guitarist, he performed with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as at Marlboro and Ojai. He became musical director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater in 1965 and worked at the Stratford Festival following an invitation from Glenn Gould. His long collaboration with theater director Richard Foreman began in 1968, producing a distinctive body of music theater alongside his instrumental compositions.