Thomas Tyra (born Thomas Norman Tyrakowski) (April 17, 1933 - July 7, 1995) was an American composer, arranger, bandmaster, and music educator.
Contents |
Tyra was born and raised in Cicero, Illinois. The only child of a working-class immigrant family, Tyra graduated from the J. S. Morton High School in Cicero, Northwestern University (BA 1954, MA 1955) and the United States Navy School of Music (1957) where he would refine his composition and arranging skills while fulfilling his military service. He would later receive his Ph.D in Music Education in 1971 from the University of Michigan under the auspices of long-time Director of Bands, William D. Revelli.
In 1958 following graduation from Northwestern, a first job as a high school band director in Des Moines, Iowa and completion of his military service, Louisiana State University recruited Tyra to serve as assistant to then Director of Bands L. Bruce Jones. In 1959, LSU elevated Tyra to become the 14th Bandmaster of the Tiger Marching Band, making him at age 26 the nation's youngest director of a major university marching band.[1] Tyra's 1959 introduction of the LSU Ballet Corps launched the beginnings of the LSU Golden Girls Dance Squad. Creating some of the musical content that Tyra selected for these groups was a small cadre of aspiring student composers and arrangers, including a young Bill Conti [2] who would later gain fame by penning the theme music for the 1976 hit film Rocky.
In 1964, Tyra became Director of Bands at Eastern Michigan University. In 1968, he hired a young Max Plank to be his assistant, thus forging an enduring collaboration that would result in significant growth of the EMU Bands program.[3] From 1977 to 1985, he headed the Department of Music at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, strengthening its Music Education curriculum and planting the seeds of growth for its instrumental performance programs, including marching band. From 1985 to 1989, he served as Professor and Dean of the Crane School of Music at SUNY-Potsdam.[4] Following his retirement from Crane, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he would spend his remaining years close to immediate family members.
Tyra was a member of the Kappa Kappa Psi/Tau Beta Sigma band service organization[5] and served as ΚΚΨ's National President from 1973 to 1975.[6] He was also a member of ASCAP and the American Federation of Musicians.
Tyra wrote numerous original compositions and arrangements for symphonic bands, marching bands and brass ensembles.
Reflecting his talent in arranging for low brass and in writing works suitable for band ensembles of all levels, Tyra's Two Gaelic Folk Songs remains a standard for intermediate bands.[7] For beginning band, Tyra wrote a series of original compositions including Wholey Hymn, Modal March, Pentatonic Polka, Quartal Caper, and Polytonal Parade. His compositions and arrangements for intermediate band include Two 17th Century Italian Songs and an arrangement of I'd Do Anything from Lionel Bart's hit musical Oliver!
For more skilled ensembles, he penned countless arrangements of pre-game and half-time music for the Northwestern, LSU and EMU Marching Bands, including nationally televised works played by the Tiger Marching Band when the LSU football team competed post-season at the Sugar Bowl (1959, 1960), the Orange Bowl (1962), the Cotton Bowl Classic (1963) and the Bluebonnet Bowl (1964).[8] His original compositions include Suite for Brass and Tympani, Three Christmas Miniatures, Ceremonial Sketch and Intravention. For Eastern Michigan University, Tyra composed Eastern Variants, the music and lyrics for Go Green! and the low-brass break strain for the Huron (now Eagle) Fight Song.
In 1958 at the request of Northwestern University mentor and long-time Director of Bands John Paynter, Tyra crafted the modern-day lyrics for Northwestern's Alma Mater(University Hymn).[9] Tyra's words remain an integral part of Northwestern University tradition today.
Tyra fathered six children with Suzanne Sheldon Tyra (Northwestern University, '55) of Chico, California.