Harold Wheeler spent more than five decades shaping the sound of American entertainment — and it all started on Howard University’s campus.Howard University alumnus Harold Wheeler, the Tony-winning Broadway orchestrator, composer, and longtime musical director of “Dancing With the Stars,” died June 24, 2026, at his home in Los Angeles following a lengthy illness. He was 82. His death was announced by longtime family friend and Broadway producer Lamar Richardson. Young Mr. Wheeler’s Howard University roots shaped not only his career but his entire life. He met his future wife on that campus, alongside future legends who would go on to change American music forever.Wheeler arrived at Howard in the early 1960s after graduating from Sumner High School in St. Louis. He had been playing piano since age five, performing for Sunday school at Antioch Baptist Church, where congregants once included Chuck Berry and Ike and Tina Turner. That early gift carried him all the way to Washington, D.C.At Howard, Wheeler crossed paths with some of the most important musical talents of his generation. He met fellow students Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, both of whom would go on to become defining voices in American soul music. He also met actress Hattie Winston, a fellow student who would later become his wife. The two married in 1978 and remained together until his death, raising daughters Marian and Samantha together.
