Gerald Busby (photo by Mia Hanson) Gerald Busby, a native of Texas, graduate of Yale, and protégé of Virgil Thomson, made his professional debut as a composer with a commission from Paul Taylor for the dance RUNES. The work has had nearly 1,000 performances around the world since its Paris premiere and was featured on the PBS series, Great Performances, Dance in America, and recorded on Nonesuch. Other significant collaborations...

Twenty years before actress Meryl Streep and author/director Nora Ephron brought Julia Child to the silver screen with “Julie & Julia,” composer Lee Hoiby put the famous chef on the operatic stage.  His operetta “Bon Appetit!” starred Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker) and debuted at the Kennedy Center in 1989 before going on to a successful run Off Broadway. Like many of Hoiby’s other theatrical works, “Bon Appetit!”...

For more than 20 years, he’s been a star in the most elite realm of classical ballet. But his name is more like ESPN. Jock Soto was a mere 16 years old in 1981 when Peter Martins, director of the New York City Ballet, plucked him out of the company’s school. Just four years later Soto was promoted to the troupe’s top tier of dancers. “At that time I was the youngest principal. I was in shock. It was hard to live up...