William P. Perry (born 1930 in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 censu ...

) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and producer of television and film. His music has been performed by the Chicago Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Detroit Symphony and the symphonic orchestras of Cincinnati, Minnesota, Montreal, Calgary and Hartford as well as the Vienna Symphony, the Rome Philharmonic, the Slovak Philharmonic, the RTÉ National Symphony of Ireland and other orchestras in Europe.

Biography

Born in

in 1930, he attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

and studied with

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

, Walter Piston, and

Randall Thompson Randall Thompson (April 21, 1899 – July 9, 1984) was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works. Career Randall attended The Lawrenceville School, where his father was an English teacher. He then attended Harvard University, ...

. For twelve years, Perry was the music director and composer-in-residence at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

in New York, where he composed and performed as a pianist more than two hundred scores for the Museum's silent film collection.

TV work

After working at MOMA, he produced a PBS television series, ''The Silent Years'' (1971, 1975) hosted by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

and

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

, which won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. Perry is often credited with having played a major role in the revival of interest in classic silent films. For three years (1976–1978) he produced a national poetry series for PBS, ''Anyone for Tennyson'', starring

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

Jack Lemmon John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadi ...

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

and

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

among others. Fifty programs were presented over three seasons with more than three hundred poets represented. From these programs, he later developed and produced the four-part DVD series, ''The Poetry Hall of Fame''" which he also hosted. He was executive producer and composed the music for the Peabody Award-winning "Mark Twain Series" of feature films on PBS (1980–1985). These films, produced by Perry's Great Amwell Company in association with the Nebraska ETV Network, also won five

Cine Golden Eagle Award Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer to ...

s. Novelist

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

introduced the series, which began with "Life on the Mississippi" and culminated with a four-hour adaptation of "

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United S ...

." This version for the first time emphasized the book's darker realities. Perry directed the first color commercial to be broadcast live coast-to-coast (during ''The Price is Right'') and the first musical commercial ever produced and broadcast on videotape (during ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

'').

Theater

Perry's

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical, ''

Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...

'', starring

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, ...

, received a Tony nomination for its original score (1986). His dramatizations of the works of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...

have included a staged musical biography, '' Mark Twain: The Musical'', that ran for ten summers (1987–1995) in his home city of Elmira and in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

. PBS produced a television version of the show. In 2009, LML Music issued a CD of the complete original cast recording.

Music

His most prominent symphonic compositions include the ''Jamestown Concerto for Cello and Orchestra'' (2007), written to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first permanent colony in America in

Jamestown, Virginia The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James (Powhatan) River about southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was ...

. It was released on CD by

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

with

Yehuda Hanani Yehuda Hanani is an international soloist, recording artist, Israeli- American cellist and Professor of Violoncello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Biography Hanani studied with Leonard Rose at Juilliard and with Pa ...

as soloist and the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

National Symphony Orchestra conducted by William Eddins. His ''Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra'' was written for and recorded by Armando Ghitalla with the composer conducting. A Naxos recording called "Music for Great Films of the Silent Era" includes his ''Three Rhapsodies for Piano and Orchestra'', the ''Gemini Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra'', written for the Albek Duo, and the suite, ''Six Title Themes in Search of a Movie''. A second Naxos release, "Music for Great Films of the Silent Era - Part 2" includes the song suite ''Silent Film Heroines'' with mezzo-soprano

Wallis Giunta Wallis Giunta (born 1985) is an Irish-Canadian mezzo-soprano opera singer and actress performing at leading theatres and opera companies around the world. Early life and education Giunta was born in Ottawa to Colleen Wrighte and Michael Giunt ...

; the ''Summer Nocturne for Flute and Orchestra'' with Timothy Hutchins as soloist; a Concerto for Ophicleide and Orchestra called ''Brass From the Past'' performed by Nick Byrne; and a World War One commemorative tone poem based on the film ''Hearts of the World.'' For both silent film recordings, Paul Phillips conducted the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Perry's most recent Naxos recording (2019) entitled "Toujours Provence: Music for Stage and Screen" includes the four-part suite: ''Toujours Provence: A Musical Guidebook for Orchestra and Piano'' and the full-length ''Wind in the Willows Ballet.'' Michael Chertock is the piano soloist, and Paul Phillips conducts the

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra The Slovak Philharmonic or Slovak State Philharmonic (Slovenská filharmónia) is a Slovak symphony orchestra based in Bratislava. Founded in 1949, the orchestra has resided since the 1950s in the Baroque era Reduta Bratislava concert hall constr ...

and Choir. Perry's music is published by Trobriand Music Company.

Other activities and awards

In addition to his film and musical work, William Perry has maintained a separate business life. In 2000, he and his wife, Marina Perry, founded Right Face Ltd., a skin care company distributing products throughout the world under the brand name Rosacea Care. Over the years William Perry has won more than a dozen

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Awards for his musical compositions, and in 1984 Elmira College conferred upon him the honorary degree of

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

in recognition of his contributions to the field of Mark Twain studies.

Trobriand Music Company

The Trobriand Music Company is a music publishing company located in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

, principally engaged in the publication and distribution of the musical works of Perry. Among the major works represented by Trobriand are Perry's ''Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra'', ''Summer Nocturne for Flute and Orchestra'', the ''Jamestown Concerto for Cello and Orchestra'', the orchestral suite from ''Life on the Mississippi'' and the ballet '' The Wind in the Willows'', based on the Broadway stage musical that starred

. Trobriand Music is also the publisher and licensor of the

stage musical ''Mark Twain: The Musical'', for which William Perry wrote the music and lyrics.''New York Daily News'' August 7, 1996 Review by Howard Kissel A number of major composers and arrangers have contributed their talents to the compositions represented in the Trobriand catalogue. Included among these are

William David Brohn William David "Bill" Brohn (March 30, 1933 – May 11, 2017) was an American arranger and orchestrator, best known for his scores of musicals such as ''Miss Saigon'', ''Ragtime'' and ''Wicked''. He won the Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for '' ...

, Richard Hayman,

Peter Breiner Peter Breiner (born July 3, 1957, in Humenné, in former Czechoslovakia, present day Slovakia) is a Slovak pianist, conductor, and composer. Breiner began to play and study the piano at age four. At age nine, he started to study at the Cons ...

, Donald Sosin and Robert Nowak. Trobriand has also commissioned works for important contemporary soloists. This includes a ''Trumpet Concerto'' for Armando Ghitalla, the ''Jamestown Concerto for Cello and Orchestra'' for

, the ''Summer Nocturne'' for flutist Keith Bryan and the ''Gemini Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra'' for the Albek Duo. The company has been affiliated with the

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

(ASCAP) since 1975. Trobriand publications are represented on a number of record labels including Naxos,

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

, Opus, Premier, and LML Music.

Recent Discography

*''Armando Ghitalla: A Trumpet Legacy'' William Perry, composer and conductor (Bridge 2007) *''The Innocents Abroad'' Mark Twain Film Scores (Naxos, 2008) *''Jamestown Concerto'' American Music for Cello and Orchestra (Naxos, 2008) *''Mr. Mark Twain'' Original Cast Recording (LML 2009) *''The Romance of the Silver Screen'' (Naxos, 2009)

List of works

Stage musicals

* ''On the Double'' (1946) * ''Xanadu: The Marco Polo Musical'' (1953) * ''Happily Ever After'' (1967) * ''Wind in the Willows'' (1985) * '' Mark Twain: The Musical'' (1987)

Film and television scores

* ''Life on the Mississippi'' (1980) * ''The Private History of a Campaign That Failed'' (1981) * ''The Mysterious Stranger'' (1982) * ''The Innocents Abroad'' (1983) * ''Pudd'nhead Wilson'' (1984) * ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1985)

Silent film scores (selection)

* '' The Gold Rush'' * '' The General'' * ''

Steamboat Bill, Jr. ''Steamboat Bill, Jr.'' is a 1928 silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton. Released by United Artists, the film is the final product of Keaton's independent production team and set of gag writers. It was not a box-office success and became th ...

'' * '' The Mark of Zorro'' * '' Blood and Sand'' * '' Orphans of the Storm'' * '' The Beloved Rogue'' * '' Down to the Sea in Ships'' * ''

Hearts of the World ''Hearts of the World'' (also known as ''Love's Struggle'') is a 1918 American silent World War I propaganda film written, produced and directed by D. W. Griffith. In an effort to change the American public's neutral stance regarding the war, ...

'' * ''

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...

'' * '' It'' * ''

Broken Blossoms ''Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl'', often referred to simply as ''Broken Blossoms'', is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. It was distributed by United Artists and premiered on May 13, 1919. It stars ...

'' * '' The Black Pirate'' * ''

Sparrows Sparrow may refer to: Birds * Old World sparrows, family Passeridae * New World sparrows, family Passerellidae * two species in the Passerine family Estrildidae: ** Java sparrow ** Timor sparrow * Hedge sparrow, also known as the dunnock or he ...

'' * ''

Way Down East ''Way Down East'' is a 1920 American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It is one of four film adaptations of the melodramatic 19th century play ''Way Down East'' by Lottie Blair Parker. There wer ...

'' * '' The Iron Horse'' * ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

'' * '' Show People'' * '' Tempest'' * '' Intolerance'' * '' The Last Laugh'' * '' Storm Over Asia'' * '' Stella Dallas'' * '' Seventh Heaven'' * '' What Price Glory?''

Major orchestral works

* ''Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra'' (1986) * ''Two Dance Pieces for Trumpet and Orchestra'' (1986) * ''Summer Nocturne for Flute and Orchestra'' (1988) * ''Life on the Mississippi Suite'' (1992) * ''The Horse-Cavalry Suite'' (1998) * ''Jamestown Concerto for Cello and Orchestra'' (2007) * ''Six Title Themes in Search of a Movie'' (2008) * ''Gemini Concerto: An Entertainment for Violin, Piano and Orchestra'' (2009) * ''The Silent Years: Three Rhapsodies for Piano and Orchestra'' (2010) * ''Brass from the Past: Concerto for Ophicleide and Orchestra'' (2012) * ''Silent Film Heroines: A Song-Suite for Mezzo Soprano and Orchestra'' (2013) * ''Market Street Overture'' (2014) * ''Hearts of the World'' (2014) * ''Wind in the Willows Ballet'' (2015) * ''Pioneer Valley: The First Frontier'' (2016) * ''Swordplay! A Curtain-Raiser'' (2017) * ''Fiona'' (2018) * ''Toujours Provence: A Musical Guidebook for Orchestra and Piano'' (2018)

Discography

*''The Beloved Rogue and other scores from The Silent Years'' William Perry, piano (Premier Recordings 1994) *''Armando Ghitalla: A Trumpet Legacy'' William Perry, composer and conductor (Bridge 2007) *''The Innocents Abroad'' Mark Twain Film Scores (Naxos, 2008) *''Jamestown Concerto'' American Music for Cello and Orchestra (Naxos, 2008) *''Mr. Mark Twain'' Original Cast Recording (LML 2009) *''The Romance of the Silver Screen'' (Naxos, 2009) *''Music for Great Films of the Silent Era'' (Naxos, 2011) *''Music for Great Films of the Silent Era Part 2'' (Naxos, 2015) *''Toujours Provence: Music for Stage and Screen'' (Naxos, 2019)

References

External links

*
Trobriand Music

rosaceacare.comWebsite of composer William PerryWebsite of the Broadway musical, ''Wind in the Willows''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, William P. 1930 births American classical composers American film score composers American male classical composers American musical theatre composers Television producers from New York (state) Harvard University alumni Living people People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City) People from Elmira, New York Pupils of Paul Hindemith Pupils of Walter Piston American male film score composers