Will Schaefer, 78, of Rancho Mirage, CA, noted music composer and arranger passed away on June 30, 2007 at Odyssey House in Palm Desert from cancer. He was a noted Walt Disney TV composer, orchestrator, and conductor and, for 20 years, Johnny Carson Tonight Show arranger for Doc Severinsen. He was born November 23, 1928 to Helmuth W. Schaefer and Esther Mueller Schaefer in Kenosha, WI. He graduated from Bradford High School in 1947. In 1994, he was recognized by the Bradford Alumni Association with a Distinguished Alumni Award; his DAA plaque is on display at Bradford High School (a photo of the plaque may be viewed here).
Schaefer was recipient of Distinguished Alumni Awards and a Bachelor of Music degree from DePaul University, and received his Doctor of Music Degree from Northwestern University. His music for Alcoa, Praise Soap and American Airlines won him three Clio Awards (the Academy Awards for TV commercials) and an Emmy nomination for his score to a Walt Disney TV movie, The Skytrap. Schaefer was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his concert piece, The Sound of America, commissioned and performed during the Bicentennial, July 4, 1976, by the Boston Pops Orchestra, conducted by Arthur Fiedler.
During the Korean War, Schaefer was arranger and assistant conductor with the U.S. Fifth Army Band and wrote music for shows such as Radio Free Europe and The Voice of America. Following military service, he went to New York to write for established music publishers, creating and recording music for more than 700 television and radio commercials, including Ford, Chevrolet and Pillsbury. He wrote big band charts for Count Basie and Buddy Rich and became head orchestrator for The Sid Caesar and Max Liebman TV Specials. On Broadway, Schaefer orchestrated What Makes Sammy Run? starring Steve Lawrence; Kicks & Co. starring Burgess Meredith, and Noel Coward's The Prince and The Showgirl with Jose Ferrer and Florence Henderson, as well as Spotlight featuring Gene Barry.
In 1976, Walt Disney Studios came calling, and Schaefer moved to Los Angeles where for 17 years he composed, arranged and conducted such landmark TV shows as The Wonderful World of Disney and many other Disney films. At Disneyland, he wrote orchestrations for such popular rides as America The Beautiful, Bear Country, The Pirates of The Caribbean, It's A Small World, and Innoventions. At the same time, he composed and arranged original music for episodes of classic TV programs, including I Dream of Jeannie, Gunsmoke, Barnaby Jones, Hogan's Heroes, Buck Rogers, and Saturday morning cartoon favorites including Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Scooby Doo, Godzilla, The Jetsons and The Battle of the Planets. He composed music for the movies Old Yeller (1957), The Shaggy Dog (1959), Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960) and Forgotten Heroes (1990). Though uncredited, he was an orchestrator for Blake Edwards' 10 (1979).
"Now That We're Men" -- a song that he co-wrote with Stephen Hillenburg, Derek Drymon, Tim Hill, Kent Osborne, Paul Tibbitt and Aaron Springer -- was heard on the soundtrack of 2004's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. It was performed by voice actors from the Nickelodeon cartoon feature film.
Schaefer, a Rancho Mirage resident, has had a desert home for more than 20 years and commuted to the University of Southern California where he taught classes in Film Scoring for USC. After retiring from that position three years ago, Schaefer established the Desert Cities Pops Band in 2005, comprised of 45 professional musicians, and served as its Musical Director and General Manager. Ironically, Schaefer died 3 hours before the time that his band had been scheduled to perform the first of three concerts for the Rancho Mirage Library, a tribute to the Fourth of July including Schaefer's Pulitzer Prize nominated Sound of America. Assistant conductor Gary Bollard, former Palm Desert High School Band Instructor, has assumed the position of conductor of Will Schaefer's Desert Cities Pops Band, and conducted the concert at Rancho Mirage Library which became a memorial concert for Schaefer.
The joy of Will's living was his work. He was an aesthetic man always striving to make his music and himself better. An idealist, he had control of his "center core" which made composing and arranging come to him in one giant flow. He wanted his players and the listeners to be pleasantly touched by his work. Since the joy of Schaefer's life was music and his work, a memorial service with the full 45-piece band playing in his memory will offer a celebration of his life this November at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church.
Published by The Desert Sun on July 7, 2007.