Randy Klein (Composer) is a multi-award-winning composer, pianist, songwriter, producer, author, educator, and president of Jazzheads, an independent music label. A cross-genre artist, his work spans concert music, musical theater, film scoring, jazz performance, and multimedia collaborations, often blending music with poetry, narrative, and visual storytelling. His long-form song cycle For My People, based on the poetry of Margaret Walker, has been featured at the Furious Flower Poetry Festival and premiered at the Forbes Center for the Arts at James Madison University. Additional works include Facing It, based on the poetry of Yusef Komunyakaa, and Dear John, Dear Coltrane, based on the poetry of Michael S. Harper, both premiered at the Furious Flower Poetry Conference with the combined James Madison University and Morgan State University Chorales. For My People has also been performed by the Jackson State Chorale, The San Diego State Chorale, Columbus State University Chorale, and with the Mississippi Symphony featuring a combined 120 voice chorale featuring the superb Broadway artist, Aurelia Williams. His chorale work Fanfare for Jerusalem premiered in 2017 at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, in Jerusalem, Israel and in concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Klein’s film and television credits include National Emmy Award-winning productions: Free To Dance (PBS Great Performances) and Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel (AMC), as well as Richard Wright – Black Boy. His music is featured in museum installations including the African Burial Ground Museum in New York City and the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina.
His musical theater works include Move! (Royal Theatre Carré, Amsterdam), I Don’t Do Club Dates (BMI Foundation grant recipient), and Flambé Dreams, developed through the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, York Theatre, and New York Musical Theatre Festival. Additional projects include Capture the Moon, Ever Happily After, and music for TYA family theater productions. His current projects include Black Swan Blues with book and lyrics by Joan Ross Sorkin was featured in a stage reading presented by the York Theatre, a concert version at theLambs Club, NYC, with a workshop scheduled for September 2026 at Nazareth University in Rochester, NY. The Black Swan Blues Concept Album is available on all streaming channels worldwide. Randy is also completing a new jazz/musical theatre work titled SPEAK a musical tale, a genre-blending musical comedy exploring communication, love, and the afterlife.
Klein is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Creatives Rebuild New York Grant, the Simons Public Humanities Fellowship, the Hall Center Scholars on Site Award, and the BMI Foundation Jerry Harrington Award. His work on For My People also received support from the American Music Center. He is the winner of four Southern Regional Emmy Awards for the music to Richard Wright Black Boy and his educational songs to the National Emmy-winning PSA series Ticktock Minutes.
As a songwriter and producer, Klein’s work spans jazz, R&B, hip-hop, to children educational songs. He is the recipient of gold records for songs recorded by R&B Hall of Famer, Millie Jackson and has had songs recorded by Candy Staton, Sarah Dash, Black Sheep, Lil’ Kim, Yo Gotti, Meek Mill, Memphis Bleak and Sesame Street. His composition DATA won the USA Songwriting Competition (Jazz category). He received a Grammy nomination for the song Who Taught You That?, recorded by Antoinette Montague and the Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band.
His piano recordings include Randy Klein’s Jazzheads, Underground Romantic, Love Notes From The Bass, Invitation In, Piano Christmas, The Flowing and Kleinway@Steinway, among others. His music is available on all major streaming platforms. Klein is affiliated with the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, the Dramatists Guild, the Recording Academy, and the Association for Popular Music Education. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, he is an active educator and songwriting coach, presenting clinics on creativity, listening, and the business of music. He is a song coach for SongU.com, Nashville. He studies piano with William Daghlian and is a former student of Chuck Israels, Lennie Tristano, Charlie Banacos, and John LaPorta. He is an Exclusive Steinway Artist.
