A. Laurence Lyon

Who was A. Laurence Lyon?

A. Laurence Lyon was a prolific composer of music, usually sacred music with a Latter-day Saint theme. He also served for 30 years as a professor at Western Oregon University.

Lyon was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands where his father, T. Edgar Lyon was serving as president of the Netherlands Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Lyon was first called as an organist for a congregation of the LDS Church when he was 16 years old. He served as a LDS Church missionary in the East German Mission, and organized and directed the choir from that mission that sang at the dedication of the Swiss Temple. In 1958 he married Donna Reeder in the Salt Lake Temple.

After his mission, Lyon received a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. from the Eastman School of Music.

From 1967 until 1997 Lyon was a professor of music at Western Oregon University. He was also president of Modern Music Methods, a publisher of string music for children.

Lyon has been involved with the music for many LDS Church temple dedications. He wrote an arrangement of "The Morning Breaks" specifically for the dedication of the Oakland California Temple and directed choirs that performed at the dedications of the Portland Oregon Temple and the Seattle Washington Temple.