Larry Strachan is a classical composer and conductor, who was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He received his Bachelor of music from the University of Manitoba, where he majored in piano and played viola in the university orchestra. From there he went on to get his Masters in Orchestral Conducting from Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia.

He has conducted many orchestras across Canada, such as the Prince George Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra, as well as being the Principal Guest Conductor for the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra. In 2020, he made his debut with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in its concert Warp/Weave (Reimagined).

On top of all his work of conducting, he is also passionate about creating new music and has been composing music throughout his life. He writes a lot of string orchestras due to his background with the viola, however he is diverse in his compositions and also has full orchestra and choral works. In the early 1990s, he formed the Spiritus Ensemble at Blessed John XXIII Parish and wrote many works for them, including Tantum Ergo Sacramentum. In 2019, he received the Frances Seaton Award for Composition from the Manitoba Choral Association for his St. Cecilia Anthem. He is also an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre.

As if he wasn’t busy enough, he is also the founder of the organization Chamber Orchestra Without Borders, which looks after the performance ensemble Chamber Orchestra MUSAIC, which he is the Artistic Director of. Founded in 2006, and operating in Winnipeg, their mission is to present works for chamber orchestras by composers of colour, as they have been underrepresented in classical music. They bring together accomplished instrumentalists from a variety of cultural backgrounds, who reflect the diversity of Winnipeg.