Alfred Reed was born on Manhattan Island in 1921 into a family of an Austrian heritage, in which he received his first introduction to both symphonic music and opera. He started to study the trumpet at the age of 10, but gradually began to show a preference for composition and the study of theory and harmony, rather than execution.

In 1938 he started working in the Radio Workshop in New York as a staff composer, arranger and assistant conductor. With the onset of World War II, he enlisted and spent three and a half years in the Air Force Band, a period in which he wrote more than a hundred pieces and arrangements for band. He was later a composer and arranger for radio, television and cinema.

He went on to study at the Julliard School of Music and also graduated from Baylor University. From 1966 to his retirement in 1994 he was a Professor of Music at the University of Miami. He was a member of WASBE and is considered by many music experts to have been a post-romantic.

His compositions have been performed all over the world, including five symphonies and well-known works such as 'Russian Christmas Music', 'Armenian Dances' and 'El Camino Real'.

He continued to be active during the last years of his life, above all in Japan, dedicating himself to teaching and conducting numerous student and symphonic bands.

After a short illness, Alfred Reed passed away on 17 September 2005 at the age of 84.