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(The Desert Sun) Will Schaefer, Composer and Arranger

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Jul 7, 2007, 4:20:50 AM7/7/07
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http://www.legacy.com/thedesertsun/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=90282156

Will Schaefer, 78, of Rancho Mirage, CA, noted Composer and Arranger
passed away on June 30, 2007 at Odyssey House in Palm Desert from
cancer. He was a noted Walt Disney TV composer, orchestrator, and
conductor and for 20 years Johnny Carson Tonight Show arranger for Doc
Severinsen. He was born Nov. 23, 1928 to Helmuth W. Schaefer and
Esther Mueller Schaefer in Kenosha, WI. Schaefer was recipient of
Distinguished Alumni Awards and a Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul
University, and received his Doctor of Music Degree from Northwestern
University. His music for Alcoa, Praise Soap and American Airlines won
him three Clio Awards (the Academy Awards for TV commercials) and an
Emmy nomination for his score to a Walt Disney TV movie, The Skytrap.
Schaefer was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his concert piece, The
Sound of America, commissioned and performed during the Bicentennial,
July 4, 1976 by the Boston Pops Orchestra, conducted by Arthur
Fiedler. During the Korean War, Schaefer was arranger and assistant
conductor with the U.S. Fifth Army Band and wrote music for shows such
as Radio Free Europe and The Voice of America. Following military
service, he went to New York to write for established music
publishers, creating and recording music for more than 700 television
and radio commercials, including Ford, Chevrolet, and Pillsbury. He
wrote big band charts for Count Basie and Buddy Rich and became head
orchestrator for The Sid Caesar and Max Liebman TV Specials. On
Broadway Schaefer orchestrated What Makes Sammy Run? starring Steve
Lawrence; Kicks & Co. starring Burgess Meredith, and Noel Coward's The
Prince and The Showgirl with Jose Ferrer and Florence Henderson as
well as Spotlight featuring Gene Barry. In 1976, Walt Disney Studios
came calling and Schaefer moved to Los Angeles where for 17 years he
composed, arranged and conducted such landmark TV shows as The
Wonderful World of Disney, the TV movie, The Skytrap, and many other
Disney films. At Disneyland, he wrote orchestrations for such popular
rides as America The Beautiful, Bear Country, The Pirates of The
Caribbean, It's A Small world, and Innoventions. At the same time, he
composed and arranged original music for episodes of classic TV
programs including I Dream of Jeannie, Gunsmoke, Barnaby Jones,
Hogan's Heroes, Buck Rogers, and Saturday morning cartoon favorites
including Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Godzilla, The
Jetsons and The Battle of the Planets. Schaefer, a Rancho Mirage
resident, has had a desert home for more than 20 years and commuted to
the University of Southern California where he taught classes in Film
Scoring for USC. After retiring from that position three years ago,
Schaefer established the Desert Cities Pops Band in 2005, comprised of
45 professional musicians, and served as its Musical Director and
General Manager. Ironically, Schaefer died 3 hours before the time
that his band had been scheduled to perform the first of three
concerts for the Rancho Mirage Library, a tribute to the Fourth of
July including Schaefer's Pulitzer Prize nominated Sound of America.
Assistant conductor Gary Bollard, former Palm Desert High School Band
Instructor, has assumed the position of conductor of Will Schaefer's
Desert Cities Pops Band, and conducted the concert at Rancho Mirage
Library which became a memorial concert for Schaefer. The joy of
Will's living was his work. He was an aesthetic man always striving to
make his music and himself better. An idealist, he had control of his
"center core" which made composing and arranging come to him in one
giant flow. He wanted his players and the listeners to be pleasantly
touched by his work. Since the joy of Schaefer's life was music and
his work, a memorial service with the full 45 piece band playing in
his memory will offer a celebration of his life this November at St.
Margaret's Episcopal Church.
Published in The Desert Sun on 7/7/2007.

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