Betz, Charles

Charles T. Betz is a Minneapolis-based composer and librettist for musical theater. He trained in classical and jazz guitar, brass, music theory, and jazz arranging at the University of Minnesota and the University of North Texas, and has performed across classical, jazz, rock, choral, and worship music. He completed the year-long Core program at New Musicals, Incorporated (2022-2023), was invited to return as guest composer the following season, and in 2024 was selected for Nautilus Music-Theater’s Composer-Librettist Studio. His current work centers on Five Minutes on the Low Road, a musical about near-death experience for which he wrote the book, music, lyrics, and original concept, with additional book, lyrics, and music by Josiah Thomas Turner and orchestrations by Ben Jossi. The show is grounded in the clinical NDE literature  and his engagement with the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS). Other recent works include the commissioned choral-orchestral Wild and Precious (2024) and River Song (2025), and the short musical IQ: The Musical (Los Angeles, 2023). He is a member of the New Musical Theater Exchange, the Minnesota Association of Songwriters, and the Playwrights’ Center.