William Porter (born 1946) is an American

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, harpsichordist and improviser.

Education

Porter studied organ at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he received the DMA degree in 1980.

Career

Porter taught

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

and organ at Oberlin from 1974 to 1986 and taught organ, music history and music theory at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

in Boston from 1985 to 2002. He taught organ, organ improvisation and harpsichord at the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

from 2001-2013 and again from 2015. He taught at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

from 2004 to 2015. Porter has mentioned Francis Chapelet,

Klaas Bolt Klaas Bolt (March 6, 1927 in Appingedam – April 11, 1990 in Haarlem) was a Dutch organist and improviser. He taught improvisation at the Sweelinck Conservatory (named for Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, a Dutch organist and composer of the Renaissanc ...

, and

Harald Vogel Harald Vogel (born 21 June 1941 in Ottersberg) is a German organist, organologist, and author. He is a leading expert on Renaissance and Baroque keyboard music. He has been professor of organ at the University of the Arts Bremen since 1994. Books ...

as influences.

Selected discography

* ''An Organ Portrait'' (1993), at the

John Brombaugh John Burlin Brombaugh (born March 1, 1937) is an American pipe organ builder known for his historically oriented tracker action pipe organs. Personal life and early training Born in Dayton, Ohio, Brombaugh (related to the Brumbaugh families) f ...

organ in the Haga Church * ''Krebs: Clavier-Übung'' (2001), at the Pehr Schiörlin organ in Gammalkil * ''Music Sweet & Serious'' (2003), at the

North German baroque organ in Örgryte Nya Kyrka The North German baroque organ in Örgryte Nya Kyrka is a pipe organ in Gothenburg. It was built within a research project at GOArt, University of Gothenburg and dedicated on August 12, 2000. The goal of the project was to recreate the constructi ...

* ''Eastman Italian Baroque Organ'' (2006), with David Higgs and

Hans Davidsson Hans Davidsson (born 1958) is a Swedish organist and pedagogue. He was one of the driving forces behind establishing the organ research center GOArt and the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative. He is currently professor of organ at the Royal Danis ...

References

External links

Porter's Eastman faculty page

American classical organists American male organists Living people 1946 births 21st-century organists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American keyboardists Male classical organists {{organist-stub