William Harold Wheeler Jr. (born July 14, 1943),[1] is an American orchestrator, composer, conductor, arranger, record producer, and music director.
He also was doing arranging for Tony Orlando and Nina Simone during that time.
Wheeler was one of two conductors (the others being fellow composers John Williams and Paul Shaffer) during the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
[2] In January 2014, it was announced that former American Idol bandleader Ray Chew would take over as musical director for the show's 18th season.
He attended Howard University, where he met his future wife, actress Hattie Winston.