Broadway music director, arranger, and pianist Tom Fay died June 20 in New York City at the age of 82.

Born Thomas Charles Fay in Poughkeepsie, New York, May 16, 1943, Mr. Fay enjoyed a musical life from the very beginning. His mother, Signe Gulbrandsen Fay, was a Juilliard-trained singer, and Fay showed signs of being a gifted pianist from an early age. He would study composition at Eastman School of Music, where he met his first wife, Judy Caldwell; and earned a Masters of Musical Arts at Yale University, later creating a graduate jazz improvisation program at the institution.

Following his time in academia, Mr. Fay became a professional musician, first as a jazz pianist with ensembles led by Gerry Mulligan and Benny Goodman, and later as a Broadway pianist, arranger, and music director. He made his debut as music director and pianist on the 1979 play-with-music Spokesong, which starred John Horton and John Lithgow. The show lasted just 77 performances, but kicked off a Broadway career that would last for two decades.

Hired as assistant conductor on the 1981 original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, Mr. Fay would become a frequent associate of Sondheim's primary music director, Paul Gemignani. After the famously short-lived Merrily, Mr. Fay would work with Gemignani on Zorba (providing dance arrangements), The Rink (conducting and penning dance arrangements), Grind (serving as assistant conductor and writing dance arrangements), and Mail (conducting and serving as dance and vocal arranger).

Away from Gemignani, his résumé included work on Charlie and Algernon, Requiem for a Heavyweight, the 1987 revival of Anything Goes, 1990's Oh, Kay!, 1994's Damn Yankees, 1996's Once Upon a Mattress, and, in his final Broadway credit, 1999's Ring Around the Moon. The latter saw Mr. Fay playing piano, providing arrangements, and serving as music supervisor for the Lincoln Center play, which featured a score by Francis Poulenc. His working relationships also included Hoagy B. Carmichael, Hal Prince, Marvin Hamlisch, Joe DiPietro, Jamie Hammerstein, and Graciela Daniele.

Mr. Fay retired from his music career in 2000 and moved to Goshen, New York, with wife Karen Burns, together running a homecare agency for the elderly. He still used his off-time to flex his musical gifts, composing 11 symphonies during the last three decades of his life. A novel, Come Again, was published earlier this year.

Mr. Fay is survived by wife Karen; children Jonathan (fiancé Melanie), Michael (wife Victoria), Dana, and Elisabeth; grandchildren Dylan, London, and Sena; and siblings Eileen, Colleen, Patricia, Mark, and Kevin. A memorial service was held June 26 in Goshen. Donations to the International Rescue Committee are requested in lieu of flowers.