Composer/Pianist/Music Faculty:
Western Oregon University
Monmouth, Oregon 97361
(503) 838-8275
Aural Skills
Composition
Composers Seminar
World Music
email me
BIO:
Composer and pianist Bill Whitley has been playing piano and composing since he was 15. After short stints at Eastern Washington University (jazz piano), and Berklee College of Music (Songwriting), he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1994 from Gonzaga University where he studied organ, piano, and composition. In 2000, he earned a Master of Music degree in composition at the University of Idaho, and in 2007, a PhD in composition at the University of Oregon.
Bill has studied composition with Robert Kyr, David Crumb, Robert Dickow, Dan Bukvich, and Fr. Kevin Waters; and has had master classes with Lou Harrison, George Crumb, John Adams, and John Corigliano.
Commissions have included chamber, choral, liturgical, orchestral, and band works. His music reflects an interest in sacred traditions of all cultures. Influences include Brian Eno, John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Meredith Monk, John Luther Adams, Giacinto Scelsi, Morton Feldman, Lou Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, Paul Dresher, and David Lang; Gregorian chant, raga music, and gamelan; as well as art-rock, prog-rock, and prog-metal. Bill’s music is rhythmically vigorous, yet preferring to work as efficiently as possible with his harmonic material, and at the core of all of his works is a commitment to melodic content. Since 2003, most of his works reflect an interest in non-western composition procedures.
Bill teaches Composition, Aural Skills, and World Music at Western Oregon University, in the heart of beautiful Willamette Valley. Most of his music is created specifically for live performance, though some works are commercially available: Selections of his sacred choral works are available through Oregon Catholic Press, and a recording of solo piano works is available through Teal Creek Music and North Pacific Music, and is available at iTunes, Amazon, cdbaby.com, and on various streaming sites such as Rhapsody and Spotify.
Bill is a member of Society of Composers, College Music Society, and National Association of Composers-USA (NACUSA)
CURRENT PROJECTS:
RECENT RECORDINGS:
Little White Salmon (2009) for two pianos and narrator to be recorded May 13, 2013. Diane Baxter and Jackie Morelli, pianos and Donna Henderson, narrator.
String Trio (2003), Presented by Cascadia Composers, a chapter of the National Association of Composers, USA. Recorded live on October 20, 2012, at St. Anne's Chapel, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR. Performed by Lucia Conrad (violin), Marissa Winship (viola), and Diane Chaplin (cello). Follow links to listen:
I. Recitatve & Trio
II. P'u "The Uncarved Block"
III. Dance
A Concert of my more recent compositions, as well as arrangements of a couple John Cage works, was held at WOU on April 18th, 2012.
Little White Salmon (2010), for two pianos and narrator was performed on Wednesday May 11th, 2012 by pianists Diane Baxter and Jackie Morelli, and poet/narrator Donna Henderson at Western Oregon University's Smith Recital Hall.
Song recital scheduled for Fall of 2013 as part of WOU's Faculty Artist. Will include my WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS SONGS (1995), ROBERT CREELEY SONGS (2003) and a new set based on poems of Donna Henderson (2013).
Manic Depression/Posuerunt me, based on Hendrix and Gesualdo tunes for Jazz band and electric guitar solo, currently under way.
Sketches are beginning to appear for what will be my first, and long-coming PIANO CONCERTO, written for Diane Baxter.
Labyrinth Walk: Music for Piano (1987-1994)is now available at CD Baby at:
Click here to hear the title track from the LABYRINTH WALK cd. This was written in memory of John Cage, shortly after his death in 1992. It is modeled after his IN A LANDSCAPE and various Cage-inspired techniques were employed, such as using dice to determine the structure.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS:Ecclesia (2001) is now available at Oregon Catholic Press.