Werner Janssen

Werner Janssen (born Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen; June 1, 1899 – September 19, 1990) was an American composer and conductor of classical music and film scores. He was the first New York-born conductor to lead the New York Philharmonic. For his film work he was nominated for six Academy Awards. Formative influences and career Werner Alexander Oscar Janssen was born in New York City on June 1, 1899 to August Louis Janssen and Alice Bianca E. ( von Boeckmann) Janssen. Werner recounted that his first two music students were the daughters of George M. Cohan, whom he taught in their home. As a teenager Werner remembers hearing the first renditions of “Over there” from across the fence between the houses. Cohan reflected on those days, writing to Werner’s father, “those were golden days when you were singing songs and I was trying to write them down next door — they were in fact the happiest of all any days as I look back on them now.” August strongly encouraged Werner to enter the family business, opposing the son’s desire for a musical career. After Werner completed secondary school (graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy) he had to support his own musical education at Dartmouth Col