Clive Muncaster

Clive Muncaster was born on January 24, 1936. At the young age of 15, he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music where he studied violin, piano, composition, and conducting, and earned his Royal Academy of Music Licentiate Diploma (LRAM). In the 1960s Chandos Music published some of his compositions, which received many broadcasts in England and Germany.

He married his first wife, Ursula Brotherton-Ratcliffe, in 1959, and ended up with five boys. The family moved from London to Charlbury, Oxfordshire, in 1964. His brother, Martin Muncaster, was working as a newscaster for the BBC, and read all the famous tributes to Sir Winston Churchill, who died on Clive’s birthday! Clive established the Churchill Memorial Concerts at Blenheim Palace a year later, and conducted his orchestra, The Oxford Chamber Ensemble, with members of the Oxford Choral Society taking part in the first concert. His brother re-read the worldwide tributes. The concert was a success!  Clive conducted the concerts for the first six years. The tradition of having a speaker at each concert continued with nationally and internationally famous politicians taking part.

In 1970, a chance meeting with the director of the music therapy program at Florida State University (FSU) resulted in Clive becoming a registered American Music Therapist (RMT). This led to his permanent move to the USA. At FSU, 1973, Clive earned his Masters Degree (MM) in composition. Years later, he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UM-KC), also in composition. Clive conceived the idea of founding “The Music Therapy Charity” U.K. which became established in 1969, celebrating its 50th year in 2019.

He moved to Washington D.C. where he wrote the film score for a Smithsonian documentary followed by a move to Lynchburg, VA. He ended up as conductor of the Liberty University Symphony Orchestra before retiring to Princeton NJ in 1993 to live with his second wife, Dulcie Bull.