Sowerby began piano lessons when he was seven and was teaching himself theory from a textbook at 11. He moved to Chicago in 1909 and continued his music studies while at Englewood High School. At age 15, Sowerby received some cursory instruction on the organ, but from then on would be self-taught.

Sowerby's debut as a composer came in 1913 when the Chicago Symphony at an all-America concert performed his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Read more Four years later, Sowerby gave his first public performance on the piano at the Norfolk, Connecticut, Festival.

His first pair of published compositions was a Woodwind Quintet (1916) and Serenade for string quartet (1917), which was a birthday present to Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. In December 1917, Sowerby went into the U.S. Army and served for 15 months in England and France as a clarinetist and bandmaster. Sowerby remained in Europe after his discharge from the army and began composing a series of works including his First Symphony, which led to him being awarded the first American Prix de Rome in 1921. For the next three years Sowerby resided at the American Academy in Rome, writing among others From the Northland a composition that would win the Society for the Publication of American Music Award.

Sowerby returned to the U.S. in 1924 and began writing music embracing American idioms including two pieces for jazz band, Syncopata and Monotony. Sowerby even adapted the popular folk tune "Pop Goes the Weasel" and arranged it for flute, oboe, clarinet, and oboe.

In 1932, Sowerby joined the faculty of the American Conservatory in its composition department and remained there until 1962. He also served as choirmaster and organist of St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago from 1927 to 1961, where he wrote a large body of music for chorus and organ. His love of religious music led to his founding of the College of Church Musicians in Washington D.C., which he served as director until 1968.

Prior to World War II, Sowerby was one of the most frequently performed American composers and by 1943, had received the Society for the Publication of American Music Award four times. He received the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1946 for his The Canticle of the Sun, a cantata for chorus and orchestra, which employed Matthew Arnold's English translation of the canticle of St. Francis of Assisi. Later awards include an honorary fellowship at Trinity College in London and the Royal School of Church Music in Croydon, England (1963). In the same year, Sowerby was presented to Queen Elizabeth II. Read less

Featured Leo Sowerby CDs & DVDs:

American Classics - Sowerby: Organ Works /Craighead, Mulbury

Release Date: 01/19/1999 Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8559028 Number of Discs: 1

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Music From America's First & Second Cities - Muczynski, Gershwin, Sowerby, Del Tredici

Release Date: 10/27/2009 Label: Centaur Records
Catalog: 2997 Number of Discs: 1

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51.

Prairie - Tone Poems By Leo Sowerby / Paul Freeman, Et Al

Label: Cedille Records Catalog: 33 Release Date: 08/10/2000 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Conductor: Paul Freeman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Czech National Symphony Orchestra
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52.

Hymns Through The Centuries / Cathedral Choral Society

Label: Gothic Records Catalog: 49112 Release Date: 02/22/2000 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Charles Villiers Stanford, Martin Luther, Traditional, Johannes Crüger ...
Conductor: J. Reilly Lewis
Orchestra/Ensemble: D.C. National Cathedral Choral Society Washington

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53.

Parables Of God And Man - Music Of Stephen Shewan Vol 2

Label: Albany Records Catalog: 349 Release Date: 01/25/2000 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Stephen Shewan, Leo Sowerby
Performer: Ann Musser Honeywell, Paul Shewan, Kevin M. Clarke, James Bobb ...
Conductor: Robert Shewan, Paul Shewan, Stephen Shewan, Franz Anton Krager
Orchestra/Ensemble: Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale, Woodwind Quintet, Roberts Wesleyan College Brass Ensemble ...

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54.

Sowerby At Trinity / Faythe Freese, Bobby Lewis

Label: Albany Records Catalog: 368 Release Date: 01/25/2000 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: Faythe Freese, Bobby Lewis

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55.

Evensong For The Feast Of The Epiphany From Grace Cathedral

Label: Gothic Records Catalog: 49106 Release Date: 04/13/1999 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Rickard,, Petr Eben, Cyril Taylor, Leo Sowerby ...
Performer: Christopher Putnam, John Fenstermaker, Jeffrey Goodsite, Barrie Cowan ...
Conductor: John Fenstermaker
Orchestra/Ensemble: Grace Cathedral Choir San Francisco

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56.

Sowerby: Symphony No 2, Etc / Freeman, Chicago Sinfonietta

Label: Cedille Records Catalog: 39 Release Date: 01/25/1999 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Conductor: Paul Freeman
Orchestra/Ensemble: Chicago Sinfonietta, Czech National Symphony Orchestra

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57.

American Classics - Sowerby: Organ Works /Craighead, Mulbury

Label: Naxos Catalog: 8559028 Release Date: 01/19/1999 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: Rita Lilly, David Craighead, David Mulbury
Conductor: John Welsh
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fairfield Orchestra

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58.

Sowerby: Master of Sacred Song / Patterson, Gloriae Dei Cantores

Label: Paraclete Recordings Catalog: 3359 Release Date: 12/08/1998 Number of Discs: 2
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: David Chalmers, James E. Jordan Jr.
Conductor: Elizabeth C. Patterson
Orchestra/Ensemble: Gloriae Dei Cantores, Gloriae Dei Brass Ensemble

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59.

Frederick Swann In Hawaii

Label: Gothic Records Catalog: 49092 Release Date: 09/16/1997 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Queen of Hawaii Liliuokalani, Louis Vierne, John Stanley, Leo Sowerby ...
Performer: Frederick Lewis Swann

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60.

Sowerby: The Throne Of God, Etc / Ferris, Weisflog, Et Al

Label: Albany Records Catalog: 232 Release Date: 07/01/1997 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: Thomas Weisflog
Conductor: William Ferris
Orchestra/Ensemble: Composer Festival Orchestra, William Ferris Chorale

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61.

I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes - Music Of Leo Sowerby

Label: Albany Records Catalog: 238 Release Date: 05/13/1997 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: James Bobb, Brian Clickner, Theodore Sipes, Paul Shewan ...
Conductor: Robert Shewan
Orchestra/Ensemble: Roberts Wesleyan College Chorale, Roberts Wesleyan College Brass Ensemble

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62.

Impressions - Sowerby: Music For Piano / Malcolm Halliday

Label: Albany Records Catalog: 226 Release Date: 04/15/1997 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: Malcolm Halliday

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63.

Organ History - Organ Music In America / Arturo Sacchetti

Label: Arts Music Catalog: 47272 Release Date: 04/15/1997 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Henrique Oswald, Arthur Foote, Alberto Nepomuceno, Alberto Ginastera ...
Performer: Arturo Sacchetti

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64.

My Love Unspoken - Leo Sowerby: Songs / Osborne, Halliday

Label: Albany Records Catalog: 196 Release Date: 10/01/1996 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: Robert Osborne, Malcolm Halliday

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65.

Sowerby: Love Came Down At Christmas, Etc / Snyder, Et Al

Label: Albany Records Catalog: 187 Release Date: 12/12/1995 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: Ronald Stalford, Patricia Snyder
Orchestra/Ensemble: Convivium, Con Vivium Choral Ensemble

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66.

Works For Violin & Organ Vol 1 / Murray-lohuis Duo

Label: Raven Recordings Catalog: 200 Release Date: 11/01/1995 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Oreste Ravanello, John Stanley, Joseph Rheinberger, Jan Bender ...
Performer: Ardyth Lohuis, Robert Murray
Orchestra/Ensemble: Murray-Lohuis Duo

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67.

Historic Organs Of Baltimore / Armstrong, Ballinger, Bowie

Label: Raven Recordings Catalog: 91 Release Date: 09/26/1995 Number of Discs: 4
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Louis J.A. Lefébure-Wely, Charles Zeuner, Healey Willan ...

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68.

Historic Organs Of San Francisco

Label: Raven Recordings Catalog: 88 Release Date: 09/26/1995 Number of Discs: 2
Composer: Sir William Walton, Jeanne Demessieux, Théodore Dubois, Louis J.A. Lefébure-Wely ...
Performer: Thomas Hazleton, Robert F. Bates, Rosalind Mohnsen, Marilyn Stulken ...

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69.

Leo Sowerby: Works For Organ / Lorenz Maycher

Label: Raven Recordings Catalog: 310 Release Date: 09/26/1995 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: Lorenz Maycher, William Watkins, James Culp

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70.

Sowerby: Works For Organ And Orchestra / Craighead, Mulbury

Label: Marco Polo Catalog: 223725 Release Date: 06/21/1995 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Leo Sowerby
Performer: David Craighead, David Mulbury, Susan Radcliff, Jeffrey Caswell ...
Conductor: John Welsh
Orchestra/Ensemble: Fairfield Orchestra

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71.

Live From Spivey Hall / Alan Morrison

Label: Aca Digital Catalog: 20022 Release Date: 05/05/1995 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Ernesto Lecuona, Dudley Buck, Jon Spong, Dan Locklair ...
Performer: Alan Morrison

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72.

Sowerby, Scheidemann, Et Al: Organ Music / Bruce Neswick

Label: Raven Recordings Catalog: 240 Release Date: 01/01/1995 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Hugo Distler, Bruce Neswick, Gerre Hancock ...
Performer: Bruce Neswick, Brian Carson

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73.

Works For Violin & Organ Vol 2 - Rondo / Murray, Lohuis

Label: Raven Recordings Catalog: 230 Release Date: 01/01/1995 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Niccolò Paganini, Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz, Leo Sowerby, Jan Bender ...
Performer: Robert Murray, Ardyth Lohuis

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74.

Nativitas - American Carols / The Kansas City Chorale

Label: Nimbus Catalog: 5413 Release Date: 10/06/1994 Number of Discs: 1
Composer: Jean Belmont Ford, John Carter, Norman Dello Joio, Kevin Oldham ...
Conductor: Charles Bruffy
Orchestra/Ensemble: Kansas City Chorale
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75.

In A Quiet Cathedral / Todd Wilson

Label: Delos Catalog: 3145 Release Date: 08/02/1994 Number of Discs: 2
Composer: Benoit, Paul, Dom, William Henry Harris, Jean Langlais, Leo Sowerby ...
Performer: Todd Wilson

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