Don L. Earl professional papers, 1953-1978

Series — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS 7836 Series 1

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Contains opera files from his time overseeing and directing the opera program at Brigham Young University, music seller files, symphony orchestra programs, workshops, convocation addresses, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other administrative materials that were collected during his time as a professor of music at Brigham Young University, 1953-1978.

Dates

Creation: 1953-1978

Creator

Earl, Don L. (Don Lee), 1917-1997 (creator, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Don L. Earl papers must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical history

From the Collection:

Don L. Earl (1917-1997) was a professor of music at Brigham Young University.

Don Lee Earl was born on August 19, 1917, to Ira Joseph and Ada Lovisa Leavitt Earl. He grew up in Las Vegas and served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bern, Switzerland, before being transferred back to the United States with the outbreak of Word War II. During the war he served as a Navy flight instructor and a light bomber pilot. He married Ruth Lillian Moss on October 22, 1944, in Texas.

He graduated from Brigham Young University in music and received his PhD from Indiana University. He taught music and religion at BYU for 35 years. He conducted many choirs, operas, and symphonies, and ran the BYU Opera Workshop. He was the music director for the Utah Valley Opera in the late 1960's. He was a member of and served as president for the Provo branch of the American Federation of Musicians Union for twenty years. He was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in several church positions.

Earl died on September 7, 1997, in Provo, Utah.