Wally Harper

Wally Harper (c. 1941 – October 8, 2004) was an American musical director, composer, conductor, dance arranger, and musical supervisor for many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. For three decades from the mid-1970s, he worked with Barbara Cook as pianist, music director and arranger.

Harper was born in Akron, Ohio. His mother was a music teacher, and by age 12 he played the piano in church. He was a graduate of the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School of Music, and first worked preparing vocal arrangements for the Broadway musical Half a Sixpence in 1965.

Harper composed two musicals with book and lyrics by Sherman Yellen. The first was Say Yes! which was produced at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, in 2000. The second was Josephine Tonight!, which was produced (posthumously) by Theatre Building Chicago in 2006, and received praise from The Chicago Sun Times for his fine score.

He also composed the Off-Broadway musical, Sensations (1970), and several songs for Irene (1973), as well as dance music for the film, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). Harper worked as musical director or arranger on Broadway musicals including A Day in Hollywood/A Night in The Ukraine (1980), Nine (1982) and My One and Only (1983). He produced the original cast recordings of those musicals, as well as the Pointer Sisters' revival of Ain't Misbehavin' and Tommy Tune's Slow Dancin'.

As a symphony conductor, Harper has conducted such orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the BBC Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has performed at The White House for four administrations.

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