Ira Hearshen

Ira Hearshen

Biography

Ira Hearshen (b. 30 November 1948, Detroit, Mich.) is an American composer.

Hearshen received his Bachelor of Music degree in applied theory and composition from Wayne State University. In 1972, he moved to Los Angeles to study orchestration at the Grove School of Music and counterpoint under Allyn Ferguson. He also studied under film composer Albert Harris. His arrangements have been featured in the Detroit Symphony's Pine Knob Summer Series, The Summer Pops Series for John Denver, the Jacksonville (FL) Symphony, and the Air Combat Heritage Band.

His orchestrations have appeared in the feature films Guarding Tess, The Three Musketeers, Toy Story 2 and All Dogs Go To Heaven 2, the television series Beauty and the Beast, and the Broadway show Into the Light. Among his concert works, his Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa was nominated for a 1997 Pulitzer Prize in Music.

- Program Note from Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music

Works for Winds

• Abbey Road (as arranger)
• Aragon 1945-1952 (2017)
  • Sentimental
  • Tennessee
  • Ballerina
  • Enchanted
  • Accentuate
• Band Jive (2009)
• Danish Bouquet (2005)
• Divertimento for Band (2000)
• Fantasia on Aura Lee
• Forged in Fire (as transcriber) (2008)
• March from "Strike Up the Band" (as arranger)
• No Biz Like Show Biz (as arranger)
• Patriotic Overture, A
• Reveille (2017)
• Symphonic Dances from "Fiddler on the Roof" (as arranger)
• Symphony on Themes of John Philip Sousa
  • After Washington Post
  • After the Thunderer
  • After Fairest of the Fair
  • After Hands Across the Sea

Resources

• Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Ira Hearshen." Accessed 25 September 2017
• Ira Hearshen website - Accessed 25 September 2017
• Kish, David. "Reveille." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12, Compiled and edited by Andrew Trachsel, 835-841. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2021.