TJ Rubin
TJ Rubin is a New York/New Jersey–based composer who tells onstage stories that reflect the wide variety of queer experiences and narratives the world holds. TJ’s music lives at the intersection of opera and musical theater, and his artistic practice is deeply rooted in collaboration.
TJ has written scores for various musicals and operas, including Ten Minutes in the Life or Death of… and I Celebrate with librettist Marella Martin Koch—the former of which was featured in West Edge Opera’s 2021 Snapshot Series; Nightlife with librettist and performance artist Deepali Gupta, which premiered at the Stonewall Inn as part of a collaboration between NYU/Tisch and American Opera Projects commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots; the full-length musical How to Create a Young Girl and the short opera Thirst with librettist Laura Barati; and Back to the Shore: A Jersey Short Opera with librettist Mika Kauffman. He is currently working on a new musical, Exorcise My Ex, with lyricist and bookwriter Cassidy Dermott.
His compositions and arrangements have been performed in New York City at American Opera Projects, OPERA America, JACK/New Georges, York Theatre’s N.E.O., Green Room 42, St. Luke’s Theatre, the Stonewall Inn (AOP), Don’t Tell Mama, and the PIT Loft; regionally at West Edge Opera, Lowbrow Opera Collective, and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; and internationally at TOHO Stage in Tokyo (January 2026).
An active educator, TJ is on faculty at Montclair State University, Kean University, and Kent Place School, and has also taught courses at New York University and William Paterson University. At Montclair State University, he teaches private composition, music theory, aural skills, the history of Broadway, and—alongside director/choreographer Ryan Kasprzak—co-directs New Works, a cross-departmental course in which musical theatre students workshop new scenes and songs by music composition students, culminating in a public presentation. At Kean University, he leads the Sight Singing and Ear Training curriculum (Levels I–IV), and at Kent Place School he teaches clarinet and saxophone. Alongside director Sam Helfrich, TJ co-directed the AOP–NYU/Tisch Opera Lab as a sabbatical replacement and remained on as production manager.
An accomplished music copyist, TJ has collaborated with many award-winning composers and writing teams, including Richard Maltby & David Shire, Will Aronson, Anthony Davis, Adam Gwon, Gaby Alter & Itamar Moses, Mel Marvin & Jonathan Levi, Scott Davenport Richards, Diedre Murray, Randall Eng, Michael Kooman & Christopher Dimond, Eisa Davis, Peter Foley, and others, for performances both domestically and internationally.
MFA: NYU/Tisch, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing. BM: Montclair State University, Music Theory/Composition. BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop.