Salamunovich, a protg of legendary choral conductor Roger Wagner, has been inexorably tied to the Los Angeles Master Chorale since the beginning, having been a founding member and Assistant Conductor from its inception until 1977, as well as an integral part of its various choral precursors.
He moved back to Los Angeles after completing his enlistment at age 19 and was asked by Wagner to join his newly formed Los Angeles Youth Chorus, which included among its members 13-year old Marilyn Horne and 14-year old Marni Nixon, and which in 1948 evolved into the Roger Wagner Chorale, of which