Bernard Herrmann

Bernard Herrmann was an American composer best known for his work in composing for motion pictures. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesserknown composers.

Herrmann, the son of a Jewish middleclass family of Russian origin, was born in New York City as Max Herman. He attended high school at DeWitt Clinton High School, an allboys public school at that time on 10th Avenue and 59th Street in New York City. His father encouraged music activity, taking him to the opera, and encouraging him to learn the violin. After winning a composition prize at the age of thirteen, he decided to concentrate on music, and went to New York University where he studied with Percy Grainger and Philip James. He also studied at the Juilliard School and, at the age of twenty, formed his own orchestra, the New Chamber Orchestra of New York.

Source: Wikipedia