Musicatlas
Music
Life
Leroy Osmon was born May 27, 1948 in Washington, Indiana and grew up and lived for 44 years in east Texas. As a student in the Texas public school system he studied clarinet and saxophone. His first composition and orchestration teacher was Dr. Charles A. “Pete” Wiley. Dr. Osmon holds degrees from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas (B.S. Music Theory and Composition), a Masters of Music (Composition, Musicology and Conducting) from Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas); composition (studying with Fisher Tull); conducting (studying with Gary Sousa) and musicology (studying with James Marks). While working on his DMA (Composition and Conducting) at the University of Houston, Osmon studied composition with Michael Horvit and conducting with Eddie Green.
Dr. Osmon receives commissions for all music genres and he has received the ASCAP Standard Music Award for Composition 18 times and the Medallion La Ville De Contrexeville (Contrexeville, France) twice. The year 2009 marks the seventeenth consecutive year for his music to be performed at the Midwest International Music Clinic in Chicago. Three times he has received the CAP Grant from the American Music Center in New York. His music has been performed throughout the United States as well as in Europe, Australia, Japan, Israel and Mexico. Leroy Osmon has received four Grammy List nominations including “Best Classical Performance” by a small ensemble (2003) and “Best Classical Album” for the CD titled “The Music of Leroy Osmon Vol. IV” Zeraim (2008).
Before moving to Xalapa, Dr. Osmon lived for 6 years in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico where he was a consultant to the Governor for the Institute of Culture for the State of Yucatan (Orquesta Sinfonica De Yucatan) and the University of Yucatan (UADY) Orquesta de Camara.
In January 2008, Leroy Osmon’s composition Zeraim from The Book of Ruth was nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize for Chamber Music and the University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.