ECO Musical Moments No. 2 – 4/10/2020

Our second ECO Musical Moment features our illustrious Music Director, William “Bill” Hill! He will be performing selections from his new composition, “Three Tangos”, which were to be performed at our Masterworks Concert Series Season Finale in May. Unfortunately we had to cancel that concert due to COVID-19, but ECO will be performing these pieces in our 2020 – 2021 Season.

Bill will also be performing his composition “Little Waltz”, giving us a sampling of some of the percussion instruments in his massive collection, and talking briefly about some of the scores he’s been working on recently.

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William (Bill) Hill has been the Music Director of ECO since 2014. Under his inspirational leadership, ECO has flourished with more high-quality performances than ever. ECO has performed several of Mr. Hill’s compositions in past seasons.

William Hill is acclaimed as a composer, soloist, artist, and conductor. Currently he is Principal Timpanist with the Colorado Symphony, Music Director of the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra, and teaches composition at the University of Denver. Hill has served as a composer with the Ohio Chamber Orchestra, National Music Festival, Grand Rapids Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Moravian Philharmonic (Czech Republic) and the Nova Series of Salt Lake City. He has performed as Timpanist with the Honolulu and Omaha Symphonies, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Hill has won numerous awards as a composer and performer from ASCAP, Indiana University, The Percussive Arts Society, and The Music Academy of the West. His Symphony #3 (2012) and tone poem The Raven (2015) for orchestra and chorus, premiered with the Colorado Symphony and both were nominated for the Pulitzer and Grawemeyer Awards. New compositions include El Perro Azul for Violin and Orchestra, Metamorphosis for Marimba and Orchestra, and Soundscape for Electronics and Orchestra composed by Colin and William Hill.

As a conductor, Hill has led the Colorado Symphony, Evergreen Chamber Orchestra, groups at the Grand Teton Music Festival, and other Colorado orchestras. His Jazz and World Music groups are long time audience favorites and he has been the subject of feature articles in local and national publications. Recordings of Hill’s music have won high praise internationally.

Bill was recently commissioned to write a piece for orchestra to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Denver International Airport. This piece will be performed and recorded by the Colorado Symphony – and you’ll be able to hear it over the loudspeakers at DIA!

William Hill is married to violinist Natalie Schmitz Hill and their two grown children are both excellent professional musicians. They maintain busy performance schedules as a family and individually. The Hills love living in Colorado for its incredible natural beauty and its great arts scene.