Hill, William
Biography
Website: https://coloradosymphony.org
Orchestra: Colorado - The Big List of timpanists - Colorado Symphony Orchestra
William Hill has performed as Principal Timpanist with the Colorado Symphony since 1980. He has served as a featured soloist on numerous occasions and the orchestra has performed his compositions more than 50 times. Mr. Hill is an Adjunct Professor of Composition and Counterpoint at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music. The Lamont Symphony under the direction of Lawrence Golan recently premiered his Symphony #2 and recorded the piece for Albany Records. The Grand Rapids Symphony opened their 2010 Classical Series with Hill’s tone poem Aurora Borealis which drew standing ovations and excellent reviews.
Hill’s more than 100 compositions range from modern classical symphonies and chamber music to jazz, rock, and ethnic influenced works. His compositions have been featured on virtually every series of concerts offered by the Colorado Symphony, and he is a founding member, composer and performer on the Colorado Symphony’s popular Drums of the World. William Hill’s compositions have been widely performed by such organizations as the Baltimore, Grand Rapids, Wichita, Modesto, and Cheyenne Symphonies, as well as the Grand Teton Music Festival, Colorado Music Festival, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, National Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains and the Nova Series of Salt Lake City. His theatric overture A New Direction was commissioned for the Gala Opening of Denver’s Buell Theatre.
In addition to the Colorado Symphony, Hill has performed as Principal Timpanist with the Grand Teton and Colorado Music Festivals, the Honolulu and Omaha Symphonies, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2006 Mr. Hill’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra was premiered by the CSO with Peter Oundjian conducting and drew rave reviews with the headline “Bill Hill Rocks the Concert Hall”. Hill has produced and performed on CDs of his music with numerous Colorado Symphony and Lamont School of Music colleagues, as well as the Moravian Philharmonic of the Czech Republic, and they are available on the Centaur and Albany labels. His CD Rhythms of Innocence features Bill on over 75 percussion instruments as well as piano, didjeridoo, recorders, and Indian flutes. A new CD of modern jazz compositions will be available in early summer 2011.
William Hill holds the Bachelor of Music with High Distinction and Performer’s Certificate from Indiana University, and the Master Of Music (4.0 GPA) from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He is the winner of numerous composition and performance awards from organizations such as the Percussive Arts Society, ASCAP, Colorado Music Teacher’s Association, Music Academy of the West, and the Ohio Collegiate Jazz Competition.
Bill is married to Natalie, a professional violinist and they have two children, Nadya a full scholarship violin and voice student at the University of Michigan, and Colin a fine young jazz and rock drummer and violinist. The family loves playing a wide variety of music together and exploring Colorado’s incredible wealth of outdoor activities. An experienced climber and backcountry skier, Hill has skied from the summit of more than 60 of Colorado’s highest peaks.[1]
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