Cansler started his musical career by majoring in music composition at North Texas State University. After attending college and serving in the army, he moved to Los Angeles. There he connected with fellow Texan Kenny Rogers, who had just formed the rock group The First Edition. Rogers asked Cansler to come on board as keyboardist, musical director, and arranger. During this time Cansler joined the writing staff at Screen Gems and began writing songs with Michael Martin Murphey. Cansler and Murphey composed an 18-song concept album, The Ballad of Calico, for The First Edition, and together penned the pop hit "Wildfire",[1] which sold over five million copies.
During the 1970s Cansler arranged and conducted for many popular groups, including The Jackson Five and The Temptations. He began composing film scores and during the course of several years composed the scores for many movies and television shows including the Gambler series (starring Kenny Rogers), The Smothers Brothers Twentieth Reunion, and The Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Christmas Special. He scored Songwriter, starring Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, composed the music for Robert Redford's short subjectA Short Film On Solar Energy, and received an Emmy nomination for his main theme for the CBS Sports Spectacular.
In 1986 Cansler composed his first symphonic work after receiving a grant from the Foundation for New American Music. His symphony, entitled "Mojave", was inspired by his lifelong love of flying. The piece included a text written by John Stewart (formerly with the Kingston Trio) and was narrated by Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter. "Mojave" was premiered at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and has been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
During this period[when?] Cansler, a longtime private pilot, joined the Rutan Voyager support team as a press spokesman. This role led to his announcing and producing airshows around the United States. He and Dick Rutan jointly produced an airshow at Langkawi Island, Malaysia, featuring American airshow pilots and skydivers and a MiG 29 demonstration team from the Russian Air Force.
Personal lifeedit
Cansler resides in Arizona and California with his wife, a registered nurse. He has two daughters from a previous marriage.
^"Larry Cansler - Music Biography, Credits and Discography : AllMusic". Rovi Corp. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
December 15, 2023
larry, cansler, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, relia. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Larry Cansler news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article is an autobiography or has been extensively edited by the subject or by someone connected to the subject It may need editing to conform to Wikipedia s neutral point of view policy There may be relevant discussion on the talk page August 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Larry Lee Cansler born 9 May 1940 in Dallas Texas is an American composer arranger conductor musical director and pianist Over a lengthy career he has collaborated with Kenny Rogers Lionel Richie Roger Miller The Smothers Brothers Michael Martin Murphey Mason Williams The Jackson Five Pam Tillis Collin Raye and many others Cansler has contributed scores to several films dramatic television series musical variety shows and over 800 national television and radio commercials He has conducted various major symphony orchestras and produced three albums of his own instrumental music Larry CanslerBorn 1940 05 09 May 9 1940 age 83 Dallas Texas United StatesOccupation s Composer arranger conductor musical director pianistInstrument s Piano Contents 1 Career 2 Personal life 3 Discography 4 External links 5 ReferencesCareer editCansler started his musical career by majoring in music composition at North Texas State University After attending college and serving in the army he moved to Los Angeles There he connected with fellow Texan Kenny Rogers who had just formed the rock group The First Edition Rogers asked Cansler to come on board as keyboardist musical director and arranger During this time Cansler joined the writing staff at Screen Gems and began writing songs with Michael Martin Murphey Cansler and Murphey composed an 18 song concept album The Ballad of Calico for The First Edition and together penned the pop hit Wildfire 1 which sold over five million copies During the 1970s Cansler arranged and conducted for many popular groups including The Jackson Five and The Temptations He began composing film scores and during the course of several years composed the scores for many movies and television shows including the Gambler series starring Kenny Rogers The Smothers Brothers Twentieth Reunion and The Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Christmas Special He scored Songwriter starring Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson composed the music for Robert Redford s short subject A Short Film On Solar Energy and received an Emmy nomination for his main theme for the CBS Sports Spectacular In 1986 Cansler composed his first symphonic work after receiving a grant from the Foundation for New American Music His symphony entitled Mojave was inspired by his lifelong love of flying The piece included a text written by John Stewart formerly with the Kingston Trio and was narrated by Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter Mojave was premiered at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles and has been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D C During this period when Cansler a longtime private pilot joined the Rutan Voyager support team as a press spokesman This role led to his announcing and producing airshows around the United States He and Dick Rutan jointly produced an airshow at Langkawi Island Malaysia featuring American airshow pilots and skydivers and a MiG 29 demonstration team from the Russian Air Force Personal life editCansler resides in Arizona and California with his wife a registered nurse He has two daughters from a previous marriage Discography editPacific Dreams 1988 2 Indian Paintbrush Sketches of the Southwest 1990 External links edit nbsp Biography portalLarry CanslerReferences edit http www allmusic com artist larry cansler p2498 songs Larry Cansler at AllMusic Larry Cansler Music Biography Credits and Discography AllMusic Rovi Corp Retrieved November 8 2012 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Larry Cansler amp oldid 970668836, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
