Tibor Serly

Spending much of his childhood in New York City, Serly played violin in various pit orchestras led by his father.

In 1922, he returned to Hungary to attend the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest,[2] where he studied composition with Zoltán Kodály, violin with Jenő Hubay, and orchestration with Leó Weiner.

When Bartók and his wife emigrated to America during World War II, Serly met them at the docks and provided support to them.

While working on this project, Serly composed the Rhapsody on Folk Songs Harmonized by Béla Bartók for Viola and Orchestra, which has become one of his most well-known compositions.

He taught orchestration to Carlyle W. Hall Sr., a trumpet player and arranger for Tommy Tucker's band; composer Glad Robinson Youse, and conductor/arranger/composer Mort Lindsey who worked with Judy Garland, Barbara Streisand, and Merv Griffin also studied with Serly.