Lawrence Weiner composer / arranger

Lawrence Weiner (22 June 1932, Cleveland, Ohio - 26 June 2009, Austin, Tex.) was an American composer and educator.

Dr. Weiner studied music at the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1954 and master’s in 1956. After graduation, Larry joined the 4th U.S. Army Band at Ft. Sam Houston, where he was the principal pianist. He taught music theory and composition at Texas A&I University in Kingsville from 1968-74.

In 1972, he received a doctorate of musical arts from the University of Miami. From 1974 until his retirement in 2003, Weiner taught and served as Composer-in-Residence at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, formerly Corpus Christi State University. During his tenure in Corpus Christi, Dr. Weiner also established and directed a highly acclaimed concert series, The Distinguished Visitors in the Arts.

Dr. Weiner's compositional output includes over 160 compositions for symphonic band, choral and chamber ensembles, percussion ensembles, four concerti, an oratorio and the opera-ballet Chipita Rodriguez, for which he received a Creativity Award from the Texas Commission on the Arts in 1983. During his prolific career, Dr. Weiner received many commissions and awards, including the ABA Ostwald Award for Daedalic Symphony and Pulitzer Prize nominations for Dialogues for Piano Trio (1981) and Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1984).