Bio

WILLIAM CAMPBELL (b. 1969) is a composer, pianist and improviser whose music may be heard over radio stations, at conferences and festivals, in concert halls, faith communities, movie theaters, and dance and dramatic events. He has been awarded with honors of scholarship and teaching from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the University of Oregon and Pima Community College. Composition awards include ASCAPPlus Awards (2010, 2011), the Penfield Music Commission Project Composition Prize (2006), a Waging Peace International Composition Special Honor (2003), a Tucson/Pima Arizona Arts Fellowship (1999) and the 1995 Jim Highsmith Award from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for his orchestral work, Sinfonietta. In 2011 the Kennedy Center American Collegiate Theater Festival awarded his original score for a new adaptation for Oedipus Rex.
Recent premieres include "Coyote Dances" by the Quad City Symphony, and "Piano Quintet." He often collaborates with dance and theater groups including the Latina Dance Project's international touring show "Coyolxauhqui ReMembers." He also works with socially conscious independent filmmakers in movies such as "BombHunters" and "Finding Face" by Spin Film, and composed the music for the recent independent release of the zombie film "Cadaver Christmas." His concert band music is published by BRS Music, and has been played throughout the country and featured at the MidWest Band Clinic. As a pianist and improviser, he performed with the acclaimed Sonoran Consort with whom he released two commercial CDs. Last spring he released a new CD, Piano Songs, of solo piano compositions that is available through all major outlets. Additionally churches nationwide sing his music for worship every Sunday.
William is a member of ASCAP and CCLI, the Iowa Composers Forum and the American Composers Forum. He earned degrees from the University of Arizona (B.M.), the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (M.M.), and the University of Oregon (Ph.D.). His dissertation was "Earth Mass," a contemporary ecological, liturgical expression. He has led contemporary music at churches almost 20 years, and is the coordinator of contemporary music at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa. A passionate educator, he has taught at Pima Community College and Missouri State University, and is an Associate Professor of Music Theory & Composition at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa and is Chair of the Music Department.