Larry Dalton passed away

[orumom]

Larry Dalton joined the "cloud of witnesses" last night. (Hebrews 12:1)

As many of you will remember, Larry and Terry Law founded "Living Sound" while at ORU. http://larrydalton.com/  Funeral arrangements are being made. The most fantastic pianist I have heard.

[Guest]

Larry hadn't been on campus for sometime, but it was great to see him at our most recent Homecoming with Patti Roberts Thompson. He had a wonderful time. I understand he had a heart attack in his sleep. He had been out to dinner with friend.

I just heard he was to fly to NY this morning to get Steinways for ORU.

[tmh8286]

That's absolutely SHOCKING to me!!  I just saw Larry not too long ago, and had a chance to talk to him for quite a while.  He was planning to move back to Tulsa, I believe.  He was looking forward to the move after living the past several years in Branson.

He was one of the most amazing pianists I've ever seen.  He'll be greatly missed by a lot of Tulsans and a lot of his ORU friends.

[Guest]

TMH, He followed through and had moved back. There will be a conventional service this week -- and there is talk of a truly grand, once-in-a-lifetime benefit concert -- and yes, at Mabee -- in memory and also for Larry's favorite cause.... ORU.  Larry truly wanted to raise millions for his alma mater.

[Guest]

Larry's funeral will be held this week at his home church in Big Stone Gap, VA, where he will be buried next to his mom. There will be a memorial service in Tulsa as well, but the date is not set. They want to allow Larry's many friends from across the world enough lead time to plan to attend

[Guest]

Larry Dalton's memorial service in Tulsa will take place next Wednesday, June 10th, at 3 pm at Tulsa Community College on 81st Street in southeast Tulsa.

We will post the address and directions as soon as they are available.

Information will also be posted at www.larrydalton.com.

Thanks,

Jim Gilbert

[tmh8286]

I had an opportunity to attend Larry's memorial today, and it was a great celebration of a truly wonderful person.  Lots of music, all arranged or written by Larry, and many stories - of the early days at ORU (if I understood correctly, Larry was a member of the inaugural class), of Living Sound, and of more recent times. 

It was a very nice service, but it's still very hard to believe that he's gone.

[Guest]

TMH, I am glad to hear that you were able to attend the tribute service. The following article is from Charisma magazine and talks of his ministering to the Pope and other accomplishments.

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Pentecostal Musician Larry Dalton Remembered For Talent, Faith

Tuesday, 09 June 2009 16:00 Adrienne S. Gaines News - Featured News   

A memorial service will be held Wednesday for Larry Dalton, a world- renowned pianist, conductor and composer who once served as music director for evangelist Oral Roberts' television broadcasts. Dalton died in Tulsa, Okla., on May 30 of a heart attack. He was 63.

"I was shocked to bury Larry at 63," said evangelist Terry Law, who formed Living Sound musical ministry with Dalton in 1969. "It was Larry's musical brilliance that made Living Sound a special team. He could take mediocre-quality musicians and make them sound like angels from heaven."

Known for putting hymns and praise and worship standards into classical arrangements, Dalton was born and raised in Big Stone Gap, Va., the eighth of nine children. He began playing piano at age 3 and became the pianist at his father's Pentecostal church while still in elementary school.

"His mother made sure her kids knew there was a world out there besides just Virginia," said Gwen Alley, Dalton's longtime assistant. "Because she sang opera and loved opera, she would teach them about operas and about art and about Europe. She never got to travel to those places, but she read books and she was just thrilled with all those things and she would instill them in all the kids."

After graduating from high school, Dalton traveled with a Southern gospel quartet called The Songsmen before attending Oral Roberts University (ORU). As a student he became an organist for Oral Roberts' crusades. He met Law while performing at a crusade in Canada 1967 and encouraged him to attend ORU.

Dalton spent several years traveling with Living Sound. In 1972 the group, which included Don Moen, was invited to perform at a university in Kraków, Poland. When they arrived, the team learned the invitation had come from the Youth Communist Party and that they would be singing at the organization's headquarters.

"Larry and I didn't know what to do," Law said. "I broke the ice, and I got up and started to preach. I said: ‘Marx and Lenin did not have the way. There was only one way, and His name is Jesus.' It took me 12 minutes to give the gospel message."

After the gospel presentation, Law was interrogated and ordered not to speak, but the communist leaders refused to cancel the concert because thousands were waiting to see the performance.

"As Larry led the band, the anointing of the Holy Spirit came and our singers began to weep and to sing the music with their hands raised in the air in praise to God," Law said. "It was one of the most electric moments of my life to watch that. ... These young people were told there was no God, and here were these American young people praising the God that they didn't believe existed."

After the concert, the group mingled with the crowd. "Larry and I said, ‘Go out there and tell everyone you can about the Lord,'" Law said. "And we led people to Jesus until 3 o'clock in the morning."

During that trip to Poland, Dalton and Law befriended Catholic Cardinal Karol Józef Wojty?a, who invited the group into his home. "We taught him charismatic choruses," Law said.

In 1978 Wojty?a became Pope John Paul II, and in 1980 he invited Living Sound to perform at the Vatican before 65,000 people.

After touring with Living Sound, Dalton worked as music director for ORU and played for Oral Roberts' television broadcasts.

Dalton, who was a Mensa member, also recorded with the National Philharmonic of London, the Sinfonia of London and the Nashville String Machine.

As a soloist, Dalton was best known for his projects Praise Magnificat, Glorious Magnificat and Instruments of Peace. He also arranged music for Christian and secular artists, including Carol Lawrence, Donald O'Connor, Larry Gatlin and Ellis Marsalis and albums for Steve Perry, Mel Torme, Paula Abdul, Al Green, Vicki Winans and Maurice Sklar, among others.

Dalton was a Steinway artist, a distinction given to pianists who are approved by a Steinway board. But he remained committed to ministry, serving as president of the nonprofit music ministry Ars Musica Christiana Inc., at the time of his death.

"Really, Larry's heart was missions and ministry," Alley said. "He played for presidents, he played for colleges, he did patriot events, but his heart was souls," Alley said. "He played with all kinds of symphonies all over the world, but he loved going into little churches and he loved to just sit down with their choir and their music people and mentor them."

In Tulsa, Dalton was the orchestral pianist and arranger for the Signature Symphony, whose popular annual Christmas concerts featured Dalton on piano. "Christmas at Signature Symphony literally became Larry Dalton," said Steve Alley, Dalton's former college roommate and longtime friend. "Many patrons bought their season tickets so they could go to the Christmas show. That was a big, big deal."

The Signature Symphony will perform a tribute concert before the 3 p.m. memorial service Wednesday at Tulsa Community College. The service will be broadcast live at LarryDalton.com.

A funeral service was held Thursday in Virginia, and Dalton was buried on Friday.

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