Rick Edinger
“Art isn’t easy.”
-Stephen Sondheim
As Area Chair of Acting & Music Theater, Rick supervises all artistic, administrative, and day-to-day support operations for our program that serves 96 students with 20 faculty and various administrative support staff. As Associate Professor of Music Theater, Rick is the vocal coach for the entire senior class of Music Theater students. He teaches courses in Music Theater Auditioning and Cabaret, and is the music director of our annual New York & Los Angeles Showcases, and often music director of our annual spring main stage musical production. Rick also serves as a School of Drama representative on the College of Fine Arts Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.
Rick Edinger (he/they) is a proud queer AAPI educator, music director, vocal coach, pianist, and actor based in New York & Pittsburgh.
Edinger currently serves as Music Supervisor/ Vocal Arranger/ Conductor/ Keys 1 for The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical by Joe Iconis (Christopher Ashley, director), which had its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in Summer/ Fall 2023. The production will continue development in its East Coast premiere at Signature Theatre Arlington in Spring 2025. Edinger will reprise his role as Music Supervisor/ Conductor of Trading Places by Thomas Patrick Lennon, Alan Zachary, and Michael Weiner (Kenny Leon, director; Fatima Robinson, choreographer) in a Pre-Broadway Workshop in Fall 2024. Additionally, he will serve as Music Director of The Brass Teapot by Chaz Cardigan, Erik Kaiko, Tim Macy, and Ramaa Mosley (Catie Davis, director) at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals at New World Stages in Fall 2024.
Other recent credits include: Music Director for the world premiere of Tom Kitt, Brian Yorkey, and Kwame Kwei-Armah’s The Visitor at The Public Theater in New York (Daniel Sullivan, director; Lorin Latarro, choreographer) starring David Hyde Pierce; Music Supervisor of In the Mood by Karen Hartman (Kenny Leon, director); Music Supervisor/ Conductor of the pre-Broadway workshop of Trading Places (Kenny Leon, director; Fatima Robinson, choreographer); Music Director/ Conductor of the pre-Broadway workshop of JOY by AnnMarie Milazzo and Ken Davenport (Casey Hutchins, director; Andy Einhorn, music supervisor), followed by the world premier at George Street Playhouse; Music Director/ Keys for New City Music Theatre’s inaugural production of Songs for a New World at Radial Park in New York (Miles J. Sternfeld, director; Ahmad Simmons, choreographer) starring Nancy Opel, Liz Callaway, Bonnie Milligan, Christy Altomare, MK Morrissey, Bre Jackson, Ximone Rose, Grace Stockdale, Jason Gotay, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Michael James Scott, Kyle Taylor Parker, et al; Associate Music Director (Andy Einhorn, Conductor) for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Fiddler on the Roof: In Concert starring Shuler Hensley and Anne L. Nathan; Music Director for the developmental reading and industry presentation of Tom Mizer and Curtis Moore’s new musical, The Amazing Mr. X (Jenny Koons, director), starring Kate Baldwin, Krystina Alabado, Alexander Gemignani, & Nik Walker.
As an educator, Edinger serves as the Area Chair for the Acting/ Musical Theater program & Associate Professor of Musical Theater at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama. Former faculty and guest positions include: Shenandoah Conservatory, New York University Tisch School of the Arts, The County College of Morris, The College of Saint Elizabeth, ArtsBridge, The Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute. He serves on the Board of Directors of The National Alliance for Musical Theatre and Theatre Gap Initiative.
In a former life, Edinger made their Broadway debut as an actor in the 2004 Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Pacific Overtures (dir. Amon Miyamoto) and the Broadway benefit concert production of Children and Art: A Tribute to Stephen Sondheim on the Eve of his 75th Birthday (Richard Maltby, Jr., director).
Edinger trained at Manhattan School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Brooklyn College, and Hunter College. They are a proud member of the American Federation of Musicians (Local 802), Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild- American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, and Musicians United for Social Equity.