Sylvester Levay (originally Lévay Szilveszter) was born on 16 May 1945 in Subotica in Yugoslavia (now Serbia).Sylvester Levay began his musical studies at the age of eight. Levay developed a taste for American music while growing up in Yugoslavia, eventually becoming a music arranger and lyricist.

Upon his arrival in Munich in 1972, he met his writing partner, Michael Kunze, with whom he has created many successful theatrical works. They most notably created Elisabeth, Mozart!, Rebecca, Marie Antoinette and Lady Bess.

From 1980 to 2000 he lived in Hollywood and concentrated on composing film music.He composed songs for notable artists like Elton John and Penny McLean. He was awarded with a Grammy for his 1975 song “Fly Robin Fly”.

In October 2010, Levay worked with Xiah Junsu of JYJ to prepare for a musical concert – “Kim Junsu Musical Concert, Levay with Friends” in South Korea to be held at Seoul.

He currently divides his time between homes in Munich, Vienna and Los Angeles. Married for twenty-five years, he and his wife Monika have a daughter, Alice, and a son, Sylvester Jr. His wife Monika is a huge fan of the historical Elisabeth and it was her who gave the Kunze/Levay duo the idea to make a musical about life of the Empress.