Sylvester Levay

Sylvester Levay (originally Lévay Szilveszter, Serbian: Силвестер Леваи, Silvester Levai) is a Hungarian recording artist and composer, born in Yugoslavia (now Serbia).

Sylvester Levay
Levay at 2012 Elisabeth Premiere
Background information
Born	(1945-05-16) 16 May 1945 (age 79) Subotica, FS Serbia, DF Yugoslavia
Genres	Film score
Occupation(s)	Composer, musician
Instrument	Keyboards

Life and career

Levay was born on 16 May 1945 in Subotica^[1] in the North Bačka District of Vojvodina, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Sylvester Levay began his musical studies at the age of eight. Levay developed a taste for American music while growing up in Yugoslavia, eventually becoming a music arranger and lyricist.^[2] Upon his arrival in Munich in 1972, he met his writing partner, Michael Kunze, with whom he has created many successful theatrical works.^[3][4] From 1980 to 2000 he lived in Hollywood and concentrated on composing film music.^[1] He composed songs for notable artists like Elton John and Penny McLean.^[5] He was awarded a Grammy for his 1975 song "Fly Robin Fly".^[1]

In October 2010, Levay worked with Xiah Junsu of JYJ to prepare for a musical concert - "Kim Junsu Musical Concert, Levay with Friends" in South Korea to be held at Seoul's Olympic Gymnastics Arena.^[6]

He currently divides his time between homes in Munich, Vienna and Los Angeles. Married for twenty-five years, he and his wife Monika have a daughter, Alice, and a son, Sylvester Jr.^{[citation needed]}

Compositions (selection)

• "Fly, Robin, Fly" (1975)
• Get Up and Boogie (1976)
• Scarface OST (as arranger) (1983)
• Flashdance soundtrack collaboration with Giorgio Moroder
• Where the Boys Are '84 (1984)
• Invitation to Hell (1984)
• Creator (1985)
• My Man Adam (1986)
• Airwolf (1984–1986)
• Cobra (1986)
• Mannequin (1987)
• Werewolf (TV series) (1987–88)
• Probe (TV series) (1988)
• Navy SEALs (1990)
• Stone Cold (1991)
• Hot Shots! (1991)
• Medicopter 117 (1998–2006)
• Hexen, Hexen (musical) (1990)
• Elisabeth (Musical) (1992)
• Mozart! (musical) (1999)
• Rebecca (musical) (2006)
• Marie Antoinette (musical) (2006)
• Beethoven Secret (musical) (2023)

Awards

• Grammy Award for Fly, Robin, Fly, words by Michael Kunze (1975)
• Goldene Stimmgabel (2002)
• Goldene Europa (2002)