Fred Thayer was born in December, 1941 in Ithaca, NY, just as the attack on Pearl Harbor was taking place.

Fred grew up between WW2 and the Vietnam War during which time he served in the Peace Corps in Colombia, South America, teaching music and playing trumpet in a civic band. Fred completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Syracuse University and a second Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Ithaca College. After receiving a Masters Degree from SUNY Binghampton where he studied with Ezra Laderman, he worked as the choral conductor at Elmira Free Academy where he met his soon-to-be wife, Patricia Barker Thayer, a violin teacher who was student-teaching in Elmira at the time.

Fred returned to school and received a DMA in composition from Cornell University where he studied with Karel Husa and Robert Palmer. From 1976 to 2013 Fred served as Choral Conductor at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he taught composition, theory and music history. Under his leadership the choral program grew to include one large SATB Choir, a select SATB Tour Choir, a Chamber Choir, an all-female SA Chorus and an advanced chorus that was featured at campus events such as Freshman Convocation, Holiday Candlelight Services, and Commencement Ceremonies. Fred led the Tour Choirs on annual concert tours across the United States and multiple tours to Poland, Spain, Czech Republic, Puerto Rico and Argentina.

Fred taught and performed for 15 summers at the Adirondack Festival of American Music and sang with the Gregg Smith Singers. His compositions have been performed and recorded by the Gregg Smith Singers, the Dale Warland Singers, the Chamber Choir of Grand Rapids and others. Works for chorus, orchestra and chamber ensembles are published by Lawson-Gould Publishers - inquiries handled by Alfred Music; Bourne Music Co.; Roger Dean Publishing Co.; Laurendale Associates Publications, owned/operated by Dale Jergenson; E. C. Schirmer Music Co.

His sons are both violinists and graduates of the Eastman School of Music: Marc Thayer is Executive Director of the Elgin Symphony Orchestra; Jeff Thayer is Concertmaster of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and the father of Olive and Walter.