Meredith willson musicals

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Meredith Willson--musician, playwright, and composer--was best known for the book, words, and music for The Music Man (1962). He wrote two other musical plays, including The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). Many of his songs are standards, including "You and I", "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You", "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", "Seventy-Six Trombones", and "Till There Was You", which was a surprising song choice for a hit record by The Beatles. Willson left his hometown of Mason City in 1919 to attend Damrosch Institute (now Juilliard) in New York. He played flute and piccolo in John Philip Sousa's band from 1921 to 1923 and then joined the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from 1924 to 1929. In 1930 he got a job in radio in California. Radio was his primary source of income over the following 25 years. He also composed several orchestral works during the '30s and '40s, including symphonies for The Great Dictator (1940) and The Little Foxes (1941). In 1951, stage producers Martin and Feuer propo

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Meredith Willson

Meredith Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa on May 18, 1902 He learned to play piccolo and flute while still in high school. In 1919, at age 17, he enrolled in New York's Institute of Musical Art, where he studied the flute under Georges Barrere, Henry Hadley, Mortimer Wilson, Bernard Wagenaar and Julius Gold.

Between 1921 and 1923, he toured the U.S., Cuba, and Mexico as the flutist with John Phillip Sousa's Band. In 1924, he worked briefly in New York's Rialto theater orchestra, under the leadership of Hugo Riesenfeld. From late 1924 to 1929 he was flutist in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Chamber Music Society.

After serving as a Major in World War II, Willson returned to the States and continued songwriting while concurrently working as music director of ABC radio and television networks.

Throughout his diverse career, Wilson contributed scores and librettos to several Broadway scores including The Music Man, which earned him the New York Drama Critics, Tony and Grammy awards in 1958, The Unsinkable Molly Brown an

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Meredith Willson

Robert Meredith Willson (spelled with two l’s) was born on May 18, 1902, in Mason City, weighing over 14 pounds—the largest baby born in Iowa at the time! But this chubby baby boy is remembered not for his birth weight but for his contribution to the world of music.

Too Big for Iowa

Growing up in Mason City, Meredith’s education included music lessons on the piano and piccolo. In fact, his first paid musical job during high school required a piccolo. He had to make $12 weekly payments on the $96 bill. His entire eight weeks of wages paid for the tiny instrument. Then during an exciting musical intermission the last day, he sat on his brand new instrument!

After high school, Meredith joined his sister in New York City to pursue his musical dreams. “I was a gangly 18,” he recalled, “when I began to feel my britches were getting too big for Mason City. So I decided to expand. New York was just about the right size.” Meredith completed two goals while in New York: studying at the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art (now called Julliard School of Music) and performin