COMPOSER
BILL
WHITLEY
"Whitley composes music of integrity and sophistication that's also disarmingly accessible—not an easy combination to achieve, even if he makes it sound easy..."
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Textura eZine, August 2017
GALLERY
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Sep
22
2023
Recording Release:
"Kaleidoscope"
*Bill Whitley, electronics
*Francesco Zago, bells and gongs, mixing and engineering
*Elena Talarico, piano
September 22, 2023
Ravello Records
May
17
2023
Performance:
"Little White Salmon"
*Lucian Baxter, piano
*Kai Frueh, piano
*Casey Joan Kollman - Narrator
Wednesday, May 17, 2023
9 pm
Harper Hall, Lawrence Conservatory of Music
Appleton, Wisconsin
NEWS
November 19, 2024 Then Elephant Speaks score now available!
Like most of my work, THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS begins with a journey inward, culminating in a discovery, followed by a return to where it began. Elephant’s wisdom, patience, and strength, in the midst of tragic times, was the energy I hope to conjure.
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Information from the Then Elephant Speaks recording project here.
November 14, 2024 All Those Who Wait score now available!
All Those Who Wait is an atmospheric and completative neo-medieval choral work for TTBB, featuring settings of the Introit and Gradual from the 1st Sunday of Advent. Inspired by medieval polyphony, it explores modal harmony and employs prolation canon and canon at the unison.
These two song cylces (2012 and 2014) were the first of my collaborations with Oregon poet Donna Henderson. Follow the linked titles above to learn more.
October 30, 2024 Robert Creeley Songs score now available!
Three jazz songs for high voice and piano, or piano and bass on poems by Robert Creeley. The first, "I Know a Man", subtitled "An Homage to Neal Cassady" is a bop-tempo, hard swing with mostly spoken lyrics. I like to think of it as a collision between beat poet and Stravinsky. The second song "Kore" is a trance-state, straight-8ths, 'ceremonial procession in liminal space'. The third, "A Token" is a sentimental, slow, and soft-swung waltz.
September 22, 2023 "Kaledeidoscope" Release
As a part of Ravello Records' critically-acclaimed Mind and Machine series, here is a kaleidoscope that has come apart, and drifts weightlessly like an ocean of beads or diamonds. I worked with that four-note motif for over a year until I finally accepted that it wanted to fall apart. What’s left is a kaleidoscope out of its container, a kaleidoscope undone. Click here for more info.
June, 2023 Solo Piano pieces from Labyrinth Walk now available
I'm in the process of moving my scores to online distributors, starting with my earliest piece. Available here.
May 17, 2023 "Little White Salmon" swims to Wisconsin!
"Little White Salmon" finds its way to Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton. In the hands of the amazing pianists Lucian Baxter and Kai Frueh, with narration by the amazing Casey Joan Kollman.
Spring, 2023 "Kaleidoscope" for electronics, bells, and piano
This piece actually started in the spring of 2020. What started with a study of drifting in darkness, became a piece floating in an ocean of light.
March 17, 2022 "Matilde alle Fontane" for SATB
Written for and commissioned by Big Mouth Society for a spring '22 program on Emily Dickinson and Dante Alighieri. My contribution is a setting of 13 lines from Il Purgatorio.
January 10, 2022 "Quattro Piccoli Pezzi per Quattro Mani"
È un tale onore scrivere per il Duo Lilith. The piece took its sweet time, but it was finally completed and delivered, just after the first of the year.
October 8, 2021 "Afterimage" for String Quartet
Written in the first week of October, '21 for Gonzaga University faculty ensemble in a concert of all-Gonzaga composers, past and present.
September 30, 2021 "Jesu, meiner Seelen Wonne" for solo piano
It was a pleasure to write for solo piano again. I hadn't written for solo piano since 1993. This work was commissioned as an anniversary present. I was honored to involved in such a beautiful gesture.
August 27, 2021 EP Release
After 16 months of pandemic-related delays we are finally pleased to announce a release date for Absent Light - In Paradisum EP. This piece, and this release have an interesting back story...check out the linked site for more on that.
March 12, 2020 Interview - "No Dead Guys" blog by Rhonda Rizzo.
Click here to read the article.
October 25, 2019 "Meditazioni sulla Dharmachakra" @ Salotto in Prova, Milan.
October 13, 2019 "Bonzai Down" featured on Princeton, NJ broadcast.
Electric guitar and Piano duo KUBIN performs works from The Other Side.
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October 11, 2019 "Bonzai Down" featured on Navona Records release.
Marvin Rosen's Classical Discoveries radio program on WPRB featured Athens Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of "Bonzai Down".
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October 11, 2019 "Meditazioni sulla Dharmachakra" featured on debut Da Vinci Records release.
Athens Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of "Bonzai Down" is featured on Navona Records' compilation Dimensions Vol. 2 .
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September 1, 2019 THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS ranked #12 in top 25.
Electric Guitar and Piano Duo KUBIN's debut The Other Side is a composer compilation which features "Meditazioni sulla Dharmachakra".
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Then Elephant Speaks #12 on Aural Awakenings Top 25 albums of August 2019.
August 23, 2019 "Then Elephant Speaks" placement on Spotify Editorial!
The title track from the new EP Then Elephant Speaks was chosen by Spotify's editorial team, and garnered over 40,000 plays/month for September and October.
August 23, 2019 THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS EP Released
Visit the project page for track listings and credits, performers, and information about the project. Here's an excerpt from the liner notes:
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"...[as] Then Elephant Speaks was being written, the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School occurred. The event influenced not only the mood of the piece, but the approach to remixing the songs as well. Like every great story, the narrative belongs in the hands of different perspectives which all work together to find truth. Motifs are shared among the original compositions and remixes, but each reiteration makes you rethink what you once knew about the piece, giving a new truth to the listening experience."
August 20, 2019 THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS on iTunes
THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS is ready for preorder at iTunes!!!
July 23, 2019 THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS [Broadcast Premiere]
DJ Laima Harmon's Floating Head of Zsa Zsa program at WRUV FM Burlington gives first airplay of "Then Elephant Speaks"!
June 9, 2019 BONZAI DOWN [US Premiere]
Bonzai Down, by Tualitan Valley Symphony, Tualitan Oregon June 9, 2019
May 1, 2019 THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS artwork finished.
Release is next!!!
April 20, 2019 DUE MEDITAZIONI News
Piano parts are done in Milan! Stay tuned.
April 9, 2019 BONZAI DOWN Final Edit
The final edits for Bonzai are done, and approved by the composer ;)... Artwork is next...more news to come.
March 5, 2019 THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS Master is Complete
Audio for THEN ELEPHANT SPEAKS is mixed and mastered. More news soon.
February 18, 2019 BONZAI DOWN [World Premiere] - Greek performance and recording date set!
Bonzai Down set to be performed and recorded by Athens Philharmonia on Monday, February 18th. The session will be taking place at the Artemis Hall in Athens, Greece.
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January 26, 2019 GHOST [World Premiere]
Eurythmia Quartet of Milan, an ensemble established in order to perform Messiaen's Quatour pour le fin de temp, will perform Bill's newest work Ghost in Gallarate, Italy.
December 8-9, 2018 ECCLESIA performed by Choral Arts Ensemble, Portland Oregon.
Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland performed Ecclesia in two performances the weekend of December 8-9. Read the program notes here.
October 20, 2018 I DREAM AWAKE reviewed in Fanfare Magazine.
Click here to read both Fanfare album reviews on Amazon.
September 25, 2018 Absent Light review
Classical music reviewer in the UK says this of ABSENT LIGHT...
"The album contains 6 tracks...and hands [down], no hesitation, the highlight is Bill Whitley's beautifully constructed 'Absent Light' which sucks you in. This is the one track where I was disappointed when it was all over. A truly beautiful piece."
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Click here to see more.
August 10, 2018 Absent Light debut recording Release!
New Ravello Records release MIND AND MACHINE, featuring Bill's Absent light. To be released August 10, 2018.
July 27, 2018 Mind & Machine available for pre-order on iTunes
You can also preview it on Apple Music!
July 19, 2018 Then Elephant Speaks goes into the studio.
Then Elephant Speaks goes into IndieHub, Milan on July 19th!
May 26, 2018 Then Elephant Speaks Premiere
Then Elephant Speaks, by The "Ensemble del Laboratorio di Musica da Camera Crossover" at Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado.