MUSE • Musicians United for Social Equity

Biography

ANDREW ESQUER (pronounced ess-CARE) is a freelance composer, arranger/orchestrator, lyricist, music educator, music director, and playwright from Sanger, California, who specializes in music for stage and screen. A 2022 graduate of NYU Steinhardt (M.M. Screen Scoring), Andrew previously attended San Diego State University (B.M. Global Composition), as well as California State University, Fresno, and Fresno City College, studying instrumental music education, piano performance, voice performance, composition, and music technology.

Andrew most recently collaborated with students in NYU Tisch’s Advanced Television Production Class, scoring the pilot episode of NOA’S ARC, a new show created by Sophie Alvarez. In his time as a composer for media, he has scored several student film projects, written multiple themes for sports broadcasts, entered several scoring competitions, and written for projects with his sunsetted videography company, MINEstudios. Among his student collaborations, two short films Andrew scored with filmmakers attending NYU Tisch were presented at film festivals run by Tisch professor Michael Schanzer. His interest in composition and arranging began at a young age, first for his original wheelhouses in the pep band, marching band, and concert band genres; from this, his focus on writing for projects that tell stories has led him to develop the Andrew Esquer Music Programmatic Initiative, an effort to write music for concert settings that find ways to incorporate narratives into the score and/or performance.

In 2005, Andrew began his career as a music director for musical theatre when he was given the position for Sanger High School’s theatre department just two weeks before their production of DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2005) was set to open. Since that first show, he has worked with multiple theatre programs ranging from elementary schools to community theatre groups and collegiate programs in the Central Valley and San Diego areas, netting roughly two dozen productions as a music director on shows including FOOTLOOSE!, DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID JR., FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, MEREDITH WILLSON’S THE MUSIC MAN, and GREEN DAY’S AMERICAN IDIOT. In addition, he has worked as a performer and synthesizer programmer for productions of JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and LITTLE WOMEN, the latter for which he also served as Assistant Music Director. Most recently, he made his off-off-Broadway debut as Music Director for the LATINÉ MUSICAL THEATRE LAB’S 4xLATINÉ, a showcase of four 15-minute excerpts of musicals currently in development by Latiné writers, and developed the synthesizer programming for Patio Playhouse’s production of MISS YOU LIKE HELL (2021). He remains available as a freelance music director and performer for New York area theatre groups.

Not satisfied by just writing narrative-based music or serving as a music director, Andrew has also branched into work as a playwright and librettist. His first original play, SLEEP: A SHORT MUSICAL, debuted in 2016 as part of Fresno City College’s TEASERS series of student-created, student-run short plays. Well-received by audiences and critics alike, the play was the first musical in TEASERS history and is now being adapted into a one-act musical. His second short musical, THE THIRD DEATH OF PANCHO LaGUARDIA, was also written (though not selected) for TEASERS, and is also an ongoing project. In 2018, Andrew served as Music Director and arranger/orchestrator for AN ODE TO NEW YORK (2018), a ten-minute medley of music for the Blossom Trail Players’ Junior Company inaugural production that also featured custom songwriting by Andrew.

Currently, Andrew lives in New York with his partner Erika R. Gamez (herself, also a theatre music director) and continues work as a composer, arranger/orchestrator, engraver/copyist, music director, and music educator for hire. He has studied composition under Chris Hajian, Irwin Fisch and Dr. Joseph Waters, piano under Dr. Brandon Bascom, and voice under Rebecca Sarkisian and Kathy Barba.