Influential MSU composition professor H. Owen Reed dies at 103

Montana composer David Masl

anka, now a grey eminence in the music world at 70, was still searching for his musical voice in the 1970s when he came to Michigan State University. His life changed when he found a kindly but demanding teacher with a gentle Missouri accent, H. Owen Reed. “It’s one of those huge accidents of fate,” Maslanka said. “He was monumental in my growth as a composer.” Reed died Jan. 6 in Athens, Ga., at age 103. He taught at MSU from 1939 to 1976 and remained a vital presence almost until his death.

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