Eli Baumgarten is a musical theatre composer, music director, and pianist whose work blends dramatic storytelling with a harmonically rich musical language shaped by jazz and classical traditions. His writing is driven by character, emotional specificity, and a deep sensitivity to narrative, creating music that is at once intimate, theatrical, and expressive.

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Originally from Denver, Colorado, Eli studied jazz piano performance at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he worked with Brad Goode, Victor Mestas, Jeff Jenkins, and Andrew Cooperstock. He later expanded his compositional voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, an experience that broadened his approach to form, orchestration, and dramatic pacing. These formative years culminated in Into Nowhere, a debut EP featuring jazz trio with strings, which premiered to a sold-out audience at Dazzle Denver.

Eli’s original compositions have been performed in concert settings across the United States and Australia, often exploring themes of memory, longing, dislocation, and inner change. His work lives at the intersection of structure and spontaneity, informed by improvisation while remaining grounded in clear dramatic intent.

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As a music director and collaborator, Eli is currently music directing an Eartha Kitt cabaret starring Broadway actress Thomasina Gross in Los Angeles. He has been accepted as a composer to the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop and will attend the program in New York in 2026.

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Based in Los Angeles, Eli continues to develop new musical theatre work while collaborating closely with performers, writers, and directors who share a commitment to emotionally honest, story-driven theatre.