Walter S. Hartley

American composer (21 February 1927 - 30 June 2016). He was born in Washington, D.C., began composing at age five and became seriously dedicated to it at sixteen. All his college degrees are from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. He received his Ph.D. in composition there in 1953. Some of his teachers were Burrill Phillips, Thomas Canning, Herbert Elwell, Bernard Rogers, Howard Hanson and Dante Fiorillo.

He was Professor Emeritus of Music at the State University of New York at Fredonia in Fredonia, New York. He also taught piano, theory and composition at the National Music Camp (now Interlochen Arts Camp) in Interlochen, Michigan from 1956 to 1964. He then became composer-in-residence at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte located in Charlotte, North Carolina until his death.

His list of compositions and arrangements is over 300, dating from 1949 on, and most of these are published. He was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), from which he received an annual award for achievement in serious music since 1962.