Music and Orchestrations by Steve Lebetkin
Lyrics by Janet Dulin Jones and Steve Lebetkin

Linda Shell, Singer

Produced by Steve Lebetkin

I Want To Read You Like A Book

Steve Lebetkin was the youngest graduate in the history of Queens College, CUNY in the 1970's, with a Masters in Music Composition. He taught at the college at the age of 19, including courses in compositions, solfege, appreciation, and a new way of teaching piano to adults (non-musicians).

The 1970's were the "hay day" for Queens College in all departments as a result of the migration of artists, economists, writers and other thinkers from Western Europe that fled to settle in New York. The music department was developed by the late Karol Rathaus (student of of Ernst Krenek). Rathaus, a contemporary of Bartok, was the Polish "Chopin" of the twentieth century, and a  remarkable composer that spawned composers Gabriel Fontrier, Leo Kraft, and Sol Berkowitz, all of whom were teachers of Steve Lebetkin. These composers passed on the compositional techniques of such great western musical traditions to Lebetkin, whose works embrace and continue this long and important lineage.

Other notable composers and musicians with whom Lebetkin studied include Hugo Weisgall, George Perle, Henry Weinberg, and Charles Burkhart.


I Want To Read You Like A Book

Steven Lebetkin