Walter Dworakivsky

Walter Dworakivsky (born April 7, 1929 in Mount Carmel , Pennsylvania ) is an American composer and music teacher.

The son of Ukrainian immigrants was born as Vladimir Skrobiak . His birth father died in 1933, and in 1955 he officially took his stepfather's name and changed the first name from Vladimir to Walter. He played the clarinet and piano in his youth, but first began studying dentistry at the University of Pittsburgh . After two years he moved to Duquesne University , where he studied music and music education, played in the university band and directed Duquesne University's US Air Force ROTC Band . He worked for two years at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, during which time he took composition lessons with Roy Harris . He then studied musicology and education and composition with Dan Harrison at Columbia University .

Dworakowski worked as a music teacher in Heightstown and Westfield, New Jersey, and from 1968 to 1993 in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. He also directed the Ukrainian Men's Chorus of Lehigh Valley and taught church music for five years at St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Bound Brook, New Jersey. He was also pianist with the Charlie Burns Band in Skytop for ten years and principal clarinet with the Allentown Marine Band from 1994 to 2001 . In addition to piano works, Dworakievsky composed pieces for orchestra, wind orchestra and choral works.

source

• Alliance Publications, Inc. - D - Dworakivsky, Walter