Forget that today’s performers have a hard enough time releasing their second song–much less their second album. But by anyone’s standards, Charles Segal has amassed a formidable catalog, composing more than 2,000 songs and performing on more than 200 albums. His talents as a jazz and commercial pianist and composer have lent themselves to a wide variety of tunes, from beloved children’s musicals to spirited jazz to soothing compositions to loving melodies.
Born in Lithuania but raised in South Africa, Charles Segal has enjoyed a mutually enriching history with his adopted country. As both a composer and a publisher, he helped found the South Africa Music Rights Organization, and he frequently performed on the SABC networks. Carrying on the musical tradition, students of the arts could pick up one of the Music Tutor Books issued by Segal’s Publications or enroll in the Charles Segal Music School, the largest of its kind in South Africa. In turn, it was in South Africa where he became a celebrity pianist, garnered numerous awards (including the country’s equivalent of the Grammys), and saw his songs wave their way into the country’s very fabric and consciousness.
In 1986, Charles Segal emigrated to the United States, where he has become a member of BMI and remains a prolific composer and recording artist. He also maintains the separate components of his musical empire, which includes a publishing company that encompasses Charles’s 2,000-song catalog; a CD production company that presses discs in a range of genres; a song library available to film, TV, and stage producers looking for background or incidental music for their projects; and a musical theater company that producers or teachers could find useful. In addition to the two dozen CDs available from Segal’s website, businesses can create customized CDs, picking and choosing from the original compositions to find a mix that best suits their needs.
www.charlessegal.com