William DeFotis

Biography

Composer and conductor William DeFotis was born in Chicago in 1953.  He studied composition with Herbert Brün, Ben Johnston, and Morgan Powell at the University of Illinois (B.M. and M.M.) and conducting with James Dixon at the University of Iowa (D.M.A.).  In 1977 he was awarded a Fulbright Commission Grant to study with composer-musicologist Wolf Rosenberg in Munich.  While in Germany he toured as solo clarinetist with the new-music ensemble Musica Negativa.  From 1983 to 1985 DeFotis taught composition and led the orchestra at Baylor University and from 1986 to 1996 he taught composition, theory, and women's studies at the College of William & Mary.  He also conducted at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, UC San Diego, and the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art.  DeFotis's work as a composer has been supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, the Iowa Hancher Circle Fund, the Upper Midwest Meet-the-Composer program, and the Virginia Commision for the Arts. 

William DeFotis's compositions--instrumental, vocal, and electronic--have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe.  His String Quartet was written for the LaSalle Quartet and his Continuous Showing was performed here and abroad by Percussion Group Cincinnati and later recorded by Opus One.  Against That Time (10 songs on familiar texts for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and orchestra) was premiered by the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory Philharmonia led by Gerhard Samuel his Openers (1999) was written for the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and its Music Director JoAnn Falletta.  After his medical retirement from the College of William & Mary in 1996, he composed and recorded over a dozen satirical songs, included on Centaur Records' Satire is Serious Business CD.  William DeFotis died of complications from chronic-progressive multiple sclerosis in 2003.       

  • solo audio or video fixed media
  • ACE Publications

    29 title(s)
    Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
    William DeFotis AGAINST THAT TIME sop & mezzo or mezzo, orch(2/pic-1-e.hn-2/(Eb)cl-b.cl-3,4-3-3-1, 3perc,cel,str
    William DeFotis BREAKING UP IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZABLE UNITS OF SIGNIFICANCE IS HARD TO DO
    fixed media audio
    William DeFotis CONTINUOUS SHOWING 3 perc, pre-recorded, performer generated tape
    William DeFotis e e cummings bagatelles mez sop/pf (1 performer)
    William DeFotis ECLIPSE vcl, pf
    William DeFotis EUPHONIANA euph
    William DeFotis HOW MANY TIMES HAD WE FOUND OURSELVES MOUTHING RECEIVED OPINIONS, USING THE LANGUAGE OF OPPRESSION , BEFORE WE NO LONGER ... women's chor
    36 voices minimum
    William DeFotis IN THE CRACKS pf
    William DeFotis INCONSEQUENCES narrator and 11 players
    fl, cl, bsn, tpt, fh, tbn, 2vln, vla, vc, cb; cond; narr
    William DeFotis OPENERS ORCH:pic-1/pic-1-2-1,4-2-3-1, 3perc,hp,cel,str(min:8-8-6-6-4)
    William DeFotis PERCUSSION AND STRING OCTET 3 perc, prepared pf, 2 vn, va, vc
    string quartet with percussion quartet
    William DeFotis PIECE FOR FLUTE SOLO WITH TAPE ACCOMPANIMENTS
    fl, tape
    William DeFotis PRE-QUOTES (or VORZITATE) cl
    William DeFotis PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN A-FLAT MAJOR (JS Bach, WTC Book I, arr by DeFotis) 222/bscl2; 3100, strings
    William DeFotis PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN B MINOR (JS Bach, WTC Book I, arr by DeFotis) 22/eh22; 2100 hp, strings
    William DeFotis PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN C-SHARP MAJOR (JS Bach WTC Book1, arr by DeFotis) 2fl/pic, 2ob, 2clinA, bscl, bsn; 2hn, tpt, tbn, perc(3), vln, vla, vc
    chamber orchestra
    William DeFotis PRELUDE AND FUGUE IN C-SHARP MINOR (JS Bach, WTC Book I, arr by DeFotis) 223/bscl2; 4110, hp, strings
    William DeFotis SATIRICAL SONGS
    voice, piano
    William DeFotis SEPTET
    cl, bsn, hn, tbn, vla, db, hp, + off-stage flute
    William DeFotis SOLO WITH SNARE DRUM Snare Drum
    William DeFotis STRING QUARTET
    string quartet
    William DeFotis THREE MOVEMENTS FOR CLARINET SOLO cl
    William DeFotis TUNE fl

    Additional Works