Louis Victor Saar was born on Dec. 10, 1868 in Rotterdam, Holland. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, Munich in 1889 where he studied with Rheinberger and Bussmeyer. He then continued his studies in Vienna, Leipzig, and Berlin, including one winter with Brahms. From 1893-96, he was the accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera Company. Antonín Dvorák hired Saar to teach harmony and counterpoint at the National Conservatory from 1896-98. Saar also taught at the N.Y. College of Music, Institute of Musical Art of N.Y. from 1898-1906; Cincinnati College of Music from 1906-17; and at the Chicago Musical College from 1917-34. In 1934 he moved to St. Louis to join the faculty of the St. Louis Institute of Music where he remained until his death on November 23, 1937.