Robbie Cowan is a music director, writer, producer, conductor, pianist, vocal coach, orchestrator, arranger, choral singer, and trivia enthusiast. He lives in New York City and sometimes New Hampshire.
Robbie was the music director and conductor for the 1st national tour of Bullets Over Broadway, the Woody Allen musical directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, as well as the music director and conductor for Kathleen Marshall’s acclaimed Roundabout production of Anything Goes. Other touring credits include Shrek, Elf, and Damn Yankees and others. Productions like these have seen him perform in some of the country’s most famed and historic venues, including the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Pantages, and Chicago’s Cadillac Palace. He has performed in 49 states (Hawaii remains elusive).
In New York City, Robbie was the resident music supervisor for the long-running off-broadway hit The Imbible: A Spirited History of Drinking and The Imbible: Day Drinking at New World Stages, as well as The Imbible: Christmas Carol Cocktails. He is frequently seen accompanying singers and leading bands for major gala events, like those at Abingdon Theater Company and Transport Group, and he is a frequent audition accompanist for Broadway, regional companies, national tours, and more.
Regionally, Robbie has worked at some of America’s most loved theaters, like the Ogunquit Playhouse and Northern Stage, and his work has been honored with many awards. Crazy for You and All Shook Up won Moss Hart awards for professional excellence in two consecutive years at the New London Barn Playhouse, where Robbie was also honored with the “Best Music Direction” award by the New Hampshire Theater Awards for his work on The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He’s received several awards and nominations both for best production and best music direction from the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle and the Bay Area Theatre Awards for his work on shows like Sweeney Todd, Triassic Parq, and Assisted Living, the musical at theaters including Ray Of Light, Woodminster Amphitheater, and Berkeley Playhouse. He has worked with Midtown Arts Center in Colorado, Skyline Theater Company in New Jersey, the Scranton Shakespeare Festival, and more.
As a writer, Robbie’s first foray in the commercial theater was 4 Guys Who Sing, an original concert revue concept which he also produced. After workshopping the piece at several regional theaters, it was picked up by famed agent Blackburn International and ran as a guest entertainer act aboard several luxury cruise lines until being shut-down by the pandemic. His original 10-minute interactive comedy murder mystery play Who Did It? was selected from hundreds of entries to appear in Playbill.com‘s inaugural Virtual Theater Festival. After receiving permission from the Cole Porter musical and literary Trusts, he began developing a new musical based on the Fred and Ginger hit The Gay Divorcee featuring all Porter music; the piece recently received a much anticipated industry-only reading. His arrangements and orchestrations have been heard in New York at acclaimed new music venue National Sawdust, at Hersheypark and other theme parks, at Pace University, the Boston Conservatory, and other educational institutions, and at the many, many regional theaters to which he’s contributed music. He is currently developing a one-woman show titled Kahn/Garland about the unexpected intersection of those two women’s lives, as well as a full-scale funk-opera based on the life of master builder Robert Moses.
In addition to theater, Robbie is also a devotee of the choral arts. He sings with the Empire City Men’s Chorus, a high-level avocational TTBB urban chorus with a focus on classical masterworks, where he also is the Associate Conductor. He has been a long-time collaborator with the cutting-edge vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon, for which he also served as contractor. He previously appeared with Essential Voices USA, lead by Judith Clurman, with whom he has performed multiple times at Carnegie Hall and has been heard in recording on National Public Radio.
His passion for high quality musical performance and love of choral and sacred music has lead him to serve the liturgical needs of many churches. He is currently a staff singer at the First Presbyterian Church of New York City. He was the full time director of music ministries at Sts. Lawrence O’Toole and Cyril of Jerusalem Catholic Church in Oakland, CA and Holy Trinity Episcopal church of Spokane, WA. He was a long-time member of the Marble Sanctuary Choir, with whom he has appeared in concert and on recordings, including nation-wide network broadcast on Christmas Day. He has performed as a regular substitute chorister with the St. Bartholomew’s Choir. He has cantored or lead chorus sections at New York churches including St. John’s Park Slope, Fort Washington Collegiate, Our Lady of Guadalupe Bensonhurst, St. Anselm’s Sunset Park, Regina Pacis, and St. Bernadette’s in Brooklyn.
Coaching clients of Robbie’s have won roles on Broadway, in national tours, and at major regional theaters. He serves on the musical theater faculty at AMDA and is on staff at Pace University. His holistic approach to song interpretation focuses not only on the technical musical elements of a piece but the acting beats which inspire, and are inspired by, the music.
His academic philosophical interests include the contemporary ethics of organized religion and the intersection of art and aesthetics with sacred cultural traditions. He studied these topics in greater depth while a student at New College, Oxford University.
Born and raised in Anchorage, AK, Robbie holds degrees with academic honors in music, education, and philosophy from Gonzaga University as well as a Master’s in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.