Born in New York City on 6 April 1921, Andrew Imbrie studied with Leo Ornstein, Nadia Boulanger, and Roger Sessions, with whom he studied from 1937 to 1948. He has taught at the University of California at Berkeley since 1949, and at the San Francisco Conservatory since 1970.

Imbrie has composed works for orchestra, chorus, chamber ensemble, and stage, and his music has been praised for its profound integrity, ardent expression, and an intense drive and conviction. Imbrie's list of prestigious commissions and honors begins from his earliest days as a composition student. The first of his five string quartets, written while at Princeton, won the New York Music Critics' Circle Award in 1944. Other commissions include works for the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Halle Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, the Naumburg Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Pro Arte Quartet. His awards include the Prix de Rome, two Guggenheim Fellowships, The Walter M. Naumburg Recording Award, and membership in the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

The New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera have each commissioned works by composer Andrew Imbrie. His compositions are in the repertoire of orchestras and chamber groups throughout the United States and Europe. His senior thesis at Princeton University was recorded by the Juilliard String Quartet, and he twice won Guggenheim fellowships for composition. Mr. Imbrie studied with Leo Ornstein, Roger Sessions, Nadia Boulanger and Robert Casadesus. He received a M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, where he taught from 1949–1991. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is on the board of directors of the Koussevitzky Foundation and was on the board of governors of the San Francisco Symphony from 1982–1991. A CD recording of his Requiem, on the Bridge label, was nominated for a Grammy Award.