Elliot Lawrence, award-winning conductor, dies at 96
A pianist by training, Lawrence was a leader from a young age, forming a youth ensemble, the Band Busters, at age 12. In his 20s, he started Elliot Lawrence and His Orchestra, which was voted the most promising new big band in Billboards college polls in 1947 and 1948.
by Richard Sandomir
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- Elliot Lawrence, who after leading a big band in the 1940s and 50s won a Tony Award for his conducting on Broadway and spent nearly a half-century in charge of the orchestra that plays on the Tonys annual broadcast, died July 2 in the New York City borough of Manhattan. He was 96.