Joel Esher is a musical theatre composer and lyricist living in New York City. He a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theater Advanced Writing Program. His musical, PharmaBro (with Lauren Gundrum) garnered national attention, culminating in a self-produced run at the Player's Theater as part of the Player's Theater self-production residency. He is one of nine collaborating composers on Folk Wandering, which premiered through Pipeline Theater. His TYA Musicals, Sammy Spider and Bagels From Benny enjoyed NYC productions at 92Y. His short musical, Superhots! is a featured musical in TheaterNow's Ten-Minute Musical Anthology (MTI). His musical Noplace (With Gregory Van Acker and Montse Olmos) received developmental support through the Goodspeed/Johnny Mercer Writer's Colony in February 2020.
Joel is a passionate master teaching artist and music educator, with multi-year partnerships with Disney Theatrical Group, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Trinity Wall Street, The Dreamyard Project, The Little Orchestra Society, and others. He is the New York regional Music Supervisor of The Story Pirates and a regular songwriting contributor to their podcast.
Joel is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Direction.
