William Porter

Events

  • Concert - William Porter - St. Alphonsus - Fritts-Richards Organ
    5816 15th Ave NW
    July 5, 2022 @ 1:30 pm
    William Porter presents an all-Bach recital. Major funding for this performance is provided by Roger W. Sherman. 
  • The Future of Organ Building: A Panel Discussion
    808 Howell St
    July 6, 2022 @ 10:00 am
    Join moderator Christa Rakich and a diverse group of experts, including David Brown, Paul Fritts, Martin Pasi, William Porter, and Michael Kraft in a discussion of the Well-Tempered Future of organ building. The history of organ building is as diverse as the history of church music and organ literature. Likewise, questions of technology, architecture, and purpose are all intangibly related to the King of Instruments. Where do we stand with the current state of organ building and where do we go with organ building in the future? How are decisions being made about concept, design, and the utilization of new technologies? Does the future of organ building keep building on the future of organ literature, or do we go in completely different directions?

William Porter
About

Widely known as a performer in the United States and in Europe, William Porter has also achieved international recognition for his skill in improvisation in a wide variety of styles, ancient and modern.  He has performed at major international festivals and academies, including the North German Organ Academy, the Italian Academy of Music for the Organ, the Smarano Organ and Clavichord Academy, Organfestival Holland, the Göteborg International Organ Academy, the Dollart Festival, the Lausanne Improvisation Festival, the Festival Toulouse les Orgues, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, the McGill International Organ Academy, Eastman’s Improvfest, and the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists.

From 2002 until 2013 he was Professor of Organ, Harpsichord, and Improvisation at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York; he has also been a member of the music faculty at McGill University in Montreal, the New England Conservatory, Yale University, and Oberlin College. Now residing in Rochester, New York, he returned to the Eastman School of Music in 2015 as part-time Professor of Organ.

He has recorded on historic instruments, old and new, for the Gasparo, Proprius, BMG, and Loft labels.