Hershy Kay (1919-1981) studied cello and composition at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute from 1936 until 1940. He then moved to New York and while there, played in various pit orchestras, began arranging music, and taught himself how to orchestrate.
When Leonard Bernstein commissioned Kay to orchestrate his musical comedy, On the Town, in 1944, Kay became one of the most sought-after orchestrators on Broadway. His reconstruction and orchestration of Louis Moreau Gottschalk's Grande Tarantelle, Op. 67, for piano and orchestra (1957) led to a renewed interest in Gottschalk's music. Kay also composed music for an LP, Mother Goose, in 1958. In 1961, he conducted Eddie Sauter's Jazz compositions for Stan Getz's Focus record. He also re-orchestrated Sigmund Romberg's music in a 1963 Columbia Masterworks recording of selections from the 1924 operetta, The Student Prince.
