"Music can make a difference. There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language, and I hope to contribute by widening communication as much as I can.”

-- Marvin Hamlisch
    (1944-2012)

There is no better way to honor Marvin's lifelong legacy than through continuing to perform the music he loved so much.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra's 2012.13 Pops season programming will continue as scheduled.

The October 12 – 14 Pops Opening Weekend concerts, My Favorite Things, will be dedicated to Mr. Hamlisch and his lasting contributions to American music.

Marvin Hamlisch (June 2, 1944 - August 6, 2012)

Marvin Hamlisch’s life in music was notable for its great versatility as well as substance. As a composer, Hamlisch has won virtually every major award that exists: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe awards. For Broadway, he composed the music for his groundbreaking show, A Chorus Line, which received the Pulitzer Prize, as well as They’re Playing Our Song, The Goodbye Girl and Sweet Smell of Success.

He is the composer of many motion picture scores, including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music for The Sting, for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific output of scores for films include original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas, Save the Tiger and, most recently, The Informant!, starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Mr. Hamlisch held the position of principal pops conductor for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Pasadena Symphony and Pops, Seattle Symphony and San Diego Symphony.

Mr. Hamlisch was musical director and arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the U.S. and England as well as of the television special, “Barbra Streisand: The Concert” (for which he received two of his Emmys).

Mr. Hamlisch was a graduate of The Juilliard School of Music and Queens College (where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree). He believed in the power of music to bring people together.