- Won Broadway's 2000 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for "Kiss Me, Kate." He was also previously twice nominated: in 1997 with collaborator Harold Wheeler for "The Life," and in 1999 for "Parade."
- Studied trombone at the Manhattan School of Music.
- Has also written classical works and a book, The Contemporary Arranger (Port Washington, NY, 1975).
- In 1960, he gave up the trombone to concentrate upon arranging and conducting.
- Jazz composer, arranger, conductor, and trombonist.
- Has cited Bartok as his favorite composer.
- His 1973 release, Giant Box, hit #16 on the U.S. Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
- In 1960 he began devoting himself primarily to arranging and conducting; one of his best-known arrangements was for Wes Montgomery's 1965 album Bumpin'. Other credits include George Benson's The Shape of Things to Come, Paul Desmond's From the Hot Afternoon and Freddie Hubbard's First Light.
- His song "Memphis Two-Step" was the title track of the Herbie Mann 1971 album of the same name.
- Sebesky trained in trombone at the Manhattan School of Music; in his early career, he played with Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Dorsey, Warren Covington, Maynard Ferguson and Stan Kenton.
- He has been nominated for thirty-one Grammy Awards.
- His Broadway theater credits include Porgy and Bess (London production by Trevor Nunn), Sinatra at the Palladium, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me, Kate, Bells Are Ringing, Flower Drum Song, Parade, The Life, Cyrano, The Goodbye Girl, The Will Rogers Follies, Sinatra at Radio City, Pal Joey, Come Fly Away, Baby It's You! and Honeymoon In Vegas.
- Sebesky's arrangements have usually been among the classiest in his field, reflecting a solid knowledge of the orchestra, drawing variously from big band jazz, rock, ethnic music, classical music of all eras, and even the avant-garde for ideas.
- Sebesky's work for television has garnered three Emmy nominations, for Allegra's Window on Nickelodeon, The Edge of Night on ABC, and Guiding Light on CBS.
- In 1975, Sebesky wrote The Contemporary Arranger, which was published with three accompanying LP phonograph records.
- Sebesky won three Grammys in the 1990s: Best Instrumental Arrangement for "Waltz for Debby" (1998) and for "Chelsea Bridge" (1999), and Best Instrumental Composition for "Joyful Noise Suite" (1999).
- Twice, he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations, for Parade (1999), and Kiss Me, Kate (2000).
- He also composed film scores that include The People Next Door (1970), F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' (1974), and The Rosary Murders (1987).
- Sebesky has arranged for hundreds of artists, including Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, John Pizzarelli, Michael Buble, Liza Minnelli, Seal, and Prince.
- He has worked with such orchestras as the London Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Pops, The New York Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic of London, and the Toronto Symphony.
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