Linda K. Twine

Class of
2007
Linda K. Twine

Linda K. Twine

"When Linda was just big enough to climb on a piano bench and play with both hands tunes that she had heard, our family knew that she had extraordinary talent."
Gloria Twine Chisum

Biography

The love for music and performing were always part of the Twine home. Linda Twine's mother was an elementary school reading specialist who loved to organize classroom operettas complete with costumes, choreography, and rhythm bands. Her father was an attorney who loved to sing and played the family piano daily. Twine's extraordinary musical talent was evident from a very young age, and her parents began the training of that talent when she was a young girl.

While teaching in New York City by day and accompanying classical and jazz artists at night, Linda Twine got her break when she was asked to substitute on the keyboard for the Tony Award-winning hit, 'The Wiz' on Broadway. Today, Twine is a renowned conductor and composer. In 2007 she was the music director of the hit Broadway musical 'The Color Purple.' Her other Broadway credits include 'Caroline or Change: A Year with Frog and Toad,' 'Jelly's Last Jam,' 'Big River,' 'Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music,' 'Ain't Misbehavin,'' and 'The Wiz.' Linda has composed and arranged theatrical works produced off-Broadway, regionally and internationally. Her choral works have been released by major American music publishers.

Twine has always been a dedicated educator and pursued her passion for education through her volunteer and extracurricular activities.

Fun fact

By the age of five, Twine could play by ear, and 'The Little White Cloud that Cried' and 'Shake a Hand, Shake a Hand' were her favorites.

Oklahoma connections

Twine's grandfather, William Henry Twine, was a pioneer lawyer who made a homestead claim near Chandler, Oklahoma Territory, in the 1891 Sax and Fox Run. Twine was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Hometown

Muskogee

Profession

Broadway Musician/Educator

Presenter

Born

1945

Died

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