About William
Brought up in Dorset, Will played the piano as a child, and won both music and academic scholarships to Canford School. He went on to study theology as a Scholar at St. John’s College, Cambridge, and was heading in an academic direction before deciding to change course and pursue a career in music.
Winning a scholarship to study as a postgraduate at Trinity College of Music, Will worked with the Hungarian pianist Joseph Weingarten - himself a student of Dohnányi, Bartók, and Kodály - and the British pianist Christine Croshaw. As he began to play professionally, other major influences included the pianist, teacher, and coach Martin Isepp, formerly Head of Music at Glyndebourne, who played a significant role in shaping Will’s approach to art song, and the Hungarian violin pedagogue Béla Katona.
Will was fortunate enough both to study and subsequently to work at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and held positions as staff pianist and vocal coach at Trinity College of Music, as well as staff accompanist in the string department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for many years.
Winning a scholarship to study as a postgraduate at Trinity College of Music, Will worked with the Hungarian pianist Joseph Weingarten - himself a student of Dohnányi, Bartók, and Kodály - and the British pianist Christine Croshaw. As he began to play professionally, other major influences included the pianist, teacher, and coach Martin Isepp, formerly Head of Music at Glyndebourne, who played a significant role in shaping Will’s approach to art song, and the Hungarian violin pedagogue Béla Katona.
Will was fortunate enough both to study and subsequently to work at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and held positions as staff pianist and vocal coach at Trinity College of Music, as well as staff accompanist in the string department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for many years.
He has always worked with singers and has a particular love for the song repertoire. Keenly interested in vocal training, Will has played for many singing teachers over the years, learning most from the Italian teacher Iris dell’Acqua, whose students he accompanied and coached for the better part of a decade. That interest led to a very active practice as a vocal coach, with many of his students now pursuing successful careers.
Although music for voice and piano has been a consistent strand throughout his career, Will has also performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician. Music has taken him all over the world, with concerts in many European countries and several trips to China, where he gave masterclasses, solo and song recitals, and two performances of Constant Lambert’s Rio Grande in the Forbidden City concert hall in Beijing.
In recent years, Will has become increasingly interested in music-making closer to his home in East Sussex, convinced that if classical musicians are unable to establish strong roots in their own towns, villages, and communities, then - in the absence of robust state support for the arts - something very precious is at risk of being lost. He gives frequent local performances, plays the piano for several local choirs, and ran a chamber music series in his village for many years.
All these activities come together in the Music Box Wealden project. Launched in 2023, the project delivers an ambitious programme of concerts across the Wealden area and has built a community that serves the needs of both music lovers and the many professional musicians who live in the region.
Although music for voice and piano has been a consistent strand throughout his career, Will has also performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician. Music has taken him all over the world, with concerts in many European countries and several trips to China, where he gave masterclasses, solo and song recitals, and two performances of Constant Lambert’s Rio Grande in the Forbidden City concert hall in Beijing.
In recent years, Will has become increasingly interested in music-making closer to his home in East Sussex, convinced that if classical musicians are unable to establish strong roots in their own towns, villages, and communities, then - in the absence of robust state support for the arts - something very precious is at risk of being lost. He gives frequent local performances, plays the piano for several local choirs, and ran a chamber music series in his village for many years.
All these activities come together in the Music Box Wealden project. Launched in 2023, the project delivers an ambitious programme of concerts across the Wealden area and has built a community that serves the needs of both music lovers and the many professional musicians who live in the region.