William McColl (clarinetist)
William Duncan McColl (May 18, 1933 – January 7, 2024) was an American
Biography
McColl was born on May 18, 1933, in Port Huron, Michigan, to Duncan and Margaret McColl. He began playing clarinet at the age of twelve. He later attended National Music Camp at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.[1]
McColl then attended the
In 1960 he moved to Puerto Rico, where he taught clarinet at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico. The Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet was also founded there. He was a featured performer at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico.[3] He met his wife, Sue, who was then a bassoonist, in Puerto Rico, where his son was born. In 1968 he moved to Seattle with the other members of the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet, which had become the Wind Quintet in Residence of the University of Washington, where he was a professor from 1968 to 2006.[1]
As a specialist in early clarinets and basset horns, he did international tours, recordings and concert appearances with the Amadeus Winds, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, among others.
McColl was also a founding member of the New World Basset Horn Trio.[4] He recorded solo and chamber works on Musical Heritage, and Crystal labels (with the Soni Ventorum), as well as on the Atlantic, Decca and Harmonia Mundi labels.
McColl was heralded as a "superb clarinetist",[5] "graceful"[6] and "virtuosic and full of life".[7]
McColl died due to respiratory failure in Seattle, on January 7, 2024, at the age of 90.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "William McColl Obituary". Seattle Times. January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ a b "Artists". Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ISBN 1-905226-02-0.
- ^ "Lullabies, P.D.Q. Bach Good Listening". Seattle Times Company. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ Rivers, Travis (September 14, 1982). "Schubert Sings On". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ Bargreen, Melinda (June 5, 1990). "Ridge String Quartet Has Soothing Appeal". Seattle Times. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ Bargreen, Melinda (May 24, 2001). "CD releases: Classical NW performers offer plenty of good choices". Seattle Times. Retrieved May 6, 2013.