Walter S. Hartley

Walter S. Hartley (1927-2016) received all of his degrees from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, including his Ph. D. in composition in 1958. Some of his teachers were Burrill Philips, Thomas Canning, Herbert Elwell, Bernard Rogers, Howard Hanson, and Dante Fiorillo. He served as Professor Emeritus of Music and Composer-in-Residence at State University College, Fredonia, NY and was also affiliated with the Music Department of the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He taught at the National Music Camp (now Interlochen Arts Camp) at Interlochen, Michigan from 1956 to 1964. His list of compositions exceeds 300, dating from 1949, and includes works for nearly every instrumental and vocal medium. His solos and chamber works for winds are performed by serious performers all over the world, and he has numerous works for band and orchestra. Hartley’s Sinfonia No. 4 is one of the standard works in the wind band repertoire, and appears on every significant list of major works of the mid-twentieth century.