Background
He was born in Poltova, Russia (now part of The Ukraine) After emigrating to the United States. he attended the Carnegie Institute, Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music & the Damrosch Institute, New York City.
He was born in Poltova, Russia (now part of The Ukraine) After emigrating to the United States. he attended the Carnegie Institute, Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music & the Damrosch Institute, New York City.
He began his musical career as a duo-pianist with Morton Gould (known as "Shefter & Gould") They performed in theaters and on the radio between 1930 - 1936. He developed his skills as a conductor, and began appearing both as solo pianist and conductor on stage. He was the guest conductor at Carnegie Hall during the 1946-1947 season.
He formed his own orchestra, and appeared on New York radio including some broadcasts over the National Broadcasting Company Network.
He also conducted his orchestra on recordings for several record labels and for the "Muzak" store music service. His first work in film music was as musical director for the production One Too Many in 1950.
In the late 1950s, Shefter struck up an alliance with fellow film composer Paul Sawtell and they produced many film scores together. Most notably they provided the music to classic science fiction and horror films including, lieutenant!,,, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961, in cooperation with producer Irwin Allen), and
In 1965 they composed some scores for the director Russian Meyer, such as the cult classic and Motorpsycho.
The last score they provided was for the Mexican film Emiliano Zapata in 1970 shortly before Sawtell"s retirement. He retired in 1975 and died in 1999 at the age of 95 in West Hollywood, California. lieutenant! Motorpsycho.