Warren Barker

Warren Barker

Born in Oakland, California, Warren Barker attended the University of California at Los Angeles and later studied composition with Mario Castelnuevo-Tedesco and Henri Pensis. At the age of twenty-four, he was appointed chief arranger for the NBC prime musical show, The Railroad Hour, a position he held for six years. Barker has been associated with 20th Century Fox, MGM and Columbia studios as composer-arranger-conductor for motion pictures and television. He has composed and conducted music for more than thirty-two different television series, including seven years as composer-conductor of the highly rated comedy series, Bewitched. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored him in 1970 for his original music written for the award winning series, My World and Welcome to It, based on the life of James Thurber. He was a member of the arranging staff for the Oscar winning picture, Hello Dolly. His compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by a variety of musical artists, from Frank Sinatra to the Hollywood Symphony. Since 1971, Barker has been writing exclusively for concert bands and educational ensembles. He has received writing commissions from: the U.S.A.F. Band, the Royal Australian Navy, the Northshore Concert Band and the Norwegian Army Staff Band. Barker is a member of B.M.I, the ABA, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity, the National Band Association, Broadcast Music, Inc. and the American Association of Concert Bands.