Thomas Osborn

THOMAS OSBORN A noted conductor, musician and educator, passed away Sunday, July 30 of a heart attack. He was 72 and had just returned to LAX from a trip to the North Pole with Joyce, his wife of almost 49 years. The New York-born son of Marie Louise and James Osborn received a Bachelors of Arts degree from Princeton University and a Master of Music degree in clarinet performance with highest honors from the School of Mu sic at Yale University. Later he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts from the School of Music at the University of Southern California and was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society. His focus was on twentieth-century music. During the 1960s, Osborn was a member of the music faculty at Western Washington State University in Bellingham, Washington, where he directed the Symphony and Opera programs. Upon returning to Los Angeles, he joined the faculty of the opera and symphony departments at the School of Music at USC. During the 1970s, he taught at Los Angeles Pierce College and directed the Youth Orchestra Program at California State University, Northridge. Osborn served as a national board member of the American Symphony Orchestra League and the Conductors' Guild. He also served as a board member for the Association for California Symphony Orchestras and as State President of the Choral Conductors Guild. From 1980 to 2002, Osborn was Professor of Music at Pepperdine University, serving as Music Director and Conductor of the Pepperdine University Community Symphony and Music Director of the annual fall musicals. Osborn was awarded the Robby Award for "1999 Best Musical Direction" for his work with the Pepperdine University fall production of the musical, Evita. During those years, he was also the principal lecturer in all areas of music history and literature. Since 1987, Osborn was the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Downey Symphony in Downey, California. Each year, th e students of the Downey elementary schools were treated to his school concerts, for which he performed as clarinetist and narrator with a quintet, for which he arranges all the music. He has conducted orchestras nationally and internationally, including in Hawaii, Italy, Seoul, S. Korea, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Most recently, Osborn was the Music Director and Conductor of Concertos With Orchestra Thousand Oaks (CWOTO) which was founded to give young musicians the opportunity to perform solos with a professional orchestra. Osborn conducted church choirs for 25 years. From 1973-1982, he served as the Music Director at the Kirk O' The Valley Presbyterian Church. Since then, he has been a Deacon, an Elder and served on the Session. For seven years, he was the Moderator of the Kirk's Long Range Planning Committee. Most recently he was President of the Kirk's School Board. Tom is survived by his wife and constant companion for 49 years, Joyce; two daughters, Carolyn Osborn and Dorothy Osborn Wise; his brother, Marshall; and three grandchildren: Jessica, George and Brittany. A Memorial Service celebrating his life will be held at the Hall of Liberty, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills on August 12, 2006, at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to one of the following organizations: The Thomas Osborn Endowment Fund for the Concertos With Orchestra Thousand Oaks (CWOTO), PO Box 4195, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359, www.cwoto.org, 805-376-2485; The Downey Symph ony, PO Box 763, Downey, CA 90241, www.downeysymphony.com, 562-403-2944; Kirk O' The Valley Presbyterian Church, 19620 Vanowen St. Reseda, CA 91335, www.kirkval.org, 818-345-2535.