<Tr> <Th> Occupation (s) </Th> <Td> Composer Conductor Playwright Flutist </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Instruments </Th> <Td> Flute </Td> </Tr> <P> Robert Meredith Willson (May 18, 1902--June 15, 1984) was an American flautist, composer, musical arranger, bandleader and playwright, best known for writing the book, music, and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical The Music Man . He wrote three other Broadway musicals, composed symphonies and popular songs, and his film scores were twice nominated for Academy Awards . </P> <P> Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa, to John David Willson and Rosalie Reiniger Willson, and he had a brother two years his senior, John Cedrick, and a sister 12 years his senior, the children's author Dixie Willson . He attended Frank Damrosch's Institute of Musical Art (which later became the Juilliard School) in New York City . He married his high school sweetheart, Elizabeth "Peggy" Wilson, on August 29, 1920 . A flute and piccolo player, Willson was a member of John Philip Sousa's band (1921--1923), and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini (1924--1929). Willson then moved to San Francisco, California, as the concert director for radio station KFRC, and then as a musical director for the NBC radio network in Hollywood . His on - air radio debut came on KFRC in 1928 on Blue Monday Jamboree . </P>

Who wrote the music to the music man