Bio

Roger Butterley is a Multi-instrumentalist,  Award winning Composer/Arranger and Music Producer who is equally at home in the diverse worlds of Pop, Rock, EDM, Theatre, Classical, and Jazz. He also has extensive experience working for some of the biggest names in the corporate entertainment world including Cirque Du Soleil, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Disney Parks and Resorts creating entertainment offerings while managing a large staff and multi-million dollar budgets.

Roger graduated from the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida, and studied music composition and theory with Dr. William Schirmer at Jacksonville University. 

Moving to New York City at the age of 21 he went on to build a career as a composer, arranger and music director before relocating to Las Vegas in 2011 to work with Cirque du Soleil as Music Talent Scout and Casting Advisor for the US. After that, he was recruited to join Carnival Cruise Lines as Manager of Musical Direction where he was responsible for revamping the live music program and managing all musical product across the fleet of 24 ships worldwide. Most recently Roger has worked as Senior Music Producer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts where he produced the scores for critically acclaimed shows including We Love Mickey at Hong Kong Disneyland, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Live! at EPCOT, Wonderful World of Animation, Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular and Disney Movie Magic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Happily Ever After, Minnie's Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks, and most recently Disney  Enchantment  for Magic  Kingdom.  Other  recent  projects  include  Expressions  of  America  at  The  National  World  War  II  Museum  in  New  Orleans,  and  ”Clean”,  the  debut  EP  from  singer/songwriter  Fabiola  Rivera.

As a composer, Roger has written music for various Disney Parks entertainment and attractions Worldwide including We Love Mickey for Hong Kong Disneyland, Jungle Book Jive for Disneyland Paris, and songs for Oga's Cantina in Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. His songs from the cantina have also been released by Walt Disney Records and appear in The Sims: Journey to Batuu. Other major compositions include a new Rock/Opera hybrid, Turandot: The Rumble for the Ring written with Tony Winning Writer/Director Diane Paulus, and a rock/guitar driven score for the popular extreme sports themed dark ride at Hershey Park- The Reese’s Extreme Cup Challenge. He has also written three musicals including Fallen Angel - A New Rock Opera (Outstanding Musical 2006 New York International Fringe Festival), industrial/marketing content for various corporate clients, production library music for Warner Chappell/Non Stop Music, and many instrumental works both chamber and symphonic. As a Conductor, Roger studied conducting at the Juilliard School with Maestro Vincent LaSelva and has guest conducted the Orlando Philharmonic, the New York Virtuosi, and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in the Czech Republic. His most recent projects include conducting the recorded scores for Happily Ever After nighttime spectacular at the Magic Kingdom, and Wonderful World of Animation a new projection mapping show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. He has music directed over fifty theatre productions throughout the US and worked as a collaborator with Broadway luminaries including Jason Robert Brown, Tom Kitt, and Stephen Flaherty.

In the Pop/Rock world, Roger served as Music Director and Lead Guitarist for renowned vocalist Phoebe Snow from 1998 until her passing in 2011. He has also had the pleasure of working with great musicians such as Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald, Ben E. King, The Smithereens, Gavin DeGraw, and many others. He has appeared on more than twenty-five albums including Lauren Kennedy’s Songs of Jason Robert Brown on PS Classics, and Phoebe Snow’s LIVE on Verve Records and Natural Wonder on Eagle Rock/Spitfire Records, and has made numerous appearances on National TV (CBS Saturday Morning,

The Roseanne Show, etc), and National Radio ( E-Town Live, NPR All Things Considered, World Café, etc.). He currently lives in Orlando, Florida.

Selected Credits:

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts- Senior Music Producer
Produce and create musical entertainment for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts worldwide  Forecast and maintain budgets for multiple simultaneous projects annually
Deliver the highest caliber of musical product, within budget and on schedule
Carnival Cruise Lines- Manager of Musical Direction
Manage team of over 350 Musicians and DJ’s with 30 direct reports (Supervisors and Music Directors) Responsible for forecasting and maintaining multi-million dollar annual budget  Responsible for performing rights licensing calculation and management
Negotiates agreements with contractors and vendors for various music department needs  

Cirque du Soleil- Music Talent Scout and Casting Advisor
Responsible for casting appropriate musical talent for Cirque’s resident shows division worldwide (12 shows at the time)
Planned, managed and executed multiple auditions in the US to recruit new talent including major markets like Los Angeles, New York, and Las Vegas
Helped develop new strategies for recruitment and participate in building a new cloud based talent database and management system

Composer- Various clients including TyFy Studios, Warner Chappell, Avis, Chase, Symbol Technologies, Hershey Park, ADM Productions, and many more.

Producer/Arranger/Session Musician- Various clients and projects including Angie Keilhauer, The Haygoods (Leaving it All Behind- 2010), Phoebe Snow (Phoebe Snow LIVE- 2008), Greg Naughton (DemoGogue and the Sun Songs- 2001), and many more.

Conductor/Music Director- Various Disney shows including Happily Ever After and Wonderful World of Animation, various musical theatre projects in NYC and across the country, guest conductor and corporate events with the Orlando Philharmonic, the New York Virtuosi, and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic.