Willy Stahl

Composer and painter William Bernard (Willy) Stahl was born 22 June 1896 in New Jersey, USA. His father William Stahl was a portrait artist in New York City. Willy played violin as a child and in 1912 was sent to Vienna to study at the Imperial Conservatory of Music. After returning to the United States, he was drafted in 1917 and briefly stationed at Fort Totten, Long Island. After playing violin with the Russian and New York Symphony orchestras, Stahl became director of the Rialto Theatre Orchestra, New York City in 1923, later moving to the Brooklyn Strand Theater from 1926-29. In 1934 he moved to Hollywood and worked as a composer for radio shows and motion pictures, also working with Meredith Wilson and Victor Young as arranger and assistant conductor. Some of his compositions were performed by the Works Progress Administration's Federal Orchestra. Stahl composed at least five symphonies and much chamber music. He died of cancer 11 April 1963, in Venice, California.