Michael Edwards(1893-1962)

Composer, songwriter ("Once in a While", "Tell Me Why"), conductor, violinist, organist and arranger. He studied the violin with his father, and later with Eugene Ysaye. He was a violinist with the Kaier Grand Opera Orchestra. During World War I, he served in the US Army Medical Division., then was a violinist in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and conducted the orchestras and played the organs for several Pennsylvania theatres. He edited and arranged music for several New York publishing firms. Joining ASCAP in 1941, his chief musical collaborators included Bud Green and Gladys Shelley. His other popular-song compositions include "I Whisper Good Night" and "Love Isn't Love". His instrumental-music compositions include (for band) "American Seamen", "National Unity", "Aladdin and the Princess", "March Modernistic", and "My America" (also for chorus).