Semyon Naumovich Steinberg was a Russian and Soviet composer and conductor, and the musical director of the Ukrainian State Jewish Theater. He was born in Odessa into a Jewish family of modest means.
In 1904 he completed Karl Lagler's music courses, where he studied violin with M. Khait. Until 1916 he worked in theater orchestras. In 1919 he graduated from the Odessa Conservatory in composition and was a student of Witold Maliszewski.
From 1919 to 1924 Steinberg worked in Odessa theaters. He wrote music for productions of Mary Tudor after Victor Hugo, The Sheep Well after Lope de Vega, and Princess Turandot after Carlo Goldoni.
In 1924 he was invited by Ephraim Loiter, and from 1925 he served as musical director of the newly opened All-Ukrainian Jewish State Theater in Kharkiv. The theater's first production, Purim-shpil with music by Steinberg, was a major success. He later composed music for In Bren (In Fire) after Daniel, as well as for a number of productions based on works by Mendele Mokher Sforim and Sholem Aleichem.
In 1929 he became musical director of the Kyiv GOSET. He wrote music for productions of The Merchant of Venice after Shakespeare, The Servant of Two Masters after Goldoni, Mirele Efros after Gordin, and other plays.
During the Second World War, after the theater was evacuated first to Jambyl and then to Kokand, Steinberg wrote not only theater music but also concert music, drawing on Kazakh, Turkmen, and Uzbek folklore. After returning to Ukraine in 1945, when the theater was relocated to Chernivtsi, he continued his work there and created musical settings for productions including Blondende Shtern (Wandering Stars), Yosele, and Umshuldik Shuldike (Guilty Without Guilt).
In the last years of his life he taught at the Chernivtsi Music College. His music was popular with audiences and generally well received in the press, which praised its lyricism, dramatic force, and effective use in the theater.
Steinberg's output included six symphonies, four wedding suites, the Kazakh Suite, Kyrgyz Sketches, the orchestral pictures Dnieper and Moldavia, a violin concerto, six string quartets, chamber works based on Uzbek, Kazakh, Turkmen, Jewish, and Bukovinian material, songs, and numerous pieces for violin and piano. He also composed music for more than 150 theatrical productions.