Harold L. Walters

Harold Laurence Walters was an American composer. He also used the pseudonym Fred L. Frank.

Life & career

Walters was born on September 29, 1918 in Gurdon, Arkansas.
Walters began taking music lessons and playing cornet at the age of eight. During his five years as a tuba player and arranger with the US Navy Band, he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio, under Nadia Boulanger. Walters also studied at the American University in Washington, D.C. and at the Washington College of Music, where he received his doctorate in 1943.
Walters later worked as a conductor and composer in Washington and New York City for theaters, film and various orchestras; including the well-known orchestra of Sigmund Romberg. After 1947, he was associated with the music publisher Rubank, Inc. as a composer, arranger, and editor. Walters' work includes around 1,500 compositions and arrangements as well as books on instrumental instruction.
Walters conducted wind bands and orchestras all over the world. "he smallest," he recalled, "was a 9-piece circus band and the largest was the 12,800-piece massed band at the University of Michigan."
He died on October 22, 1984 in Hollywood, Florida.