William Eddins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Eddins

William Eddins (born December 9, 1964 in Buffalo, New York) is an American pianist and conductor. He is the Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.

Eddins started playing piano at age 5 after his parents purchased a piano at a garage sale. He studied with David Effron at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and completed his degree in piano performance in 1983 at age 18, one of the youngest graduates in the institution’s history. He subsequently studied conducting with Daniel Lewis at the University of Southern California. In 1987, he was a founding member of the New World Symphony Orchestra in Miami, Florida.

Eddins has served as Associate Conductor of the Minnesota Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera.

In 2000, Eddins received the Seaver Conducting Award (funded by the Seaver Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts), a triennial grant awarded to exceptionally gifted young American conductors.

As a conductor, Eddins is eclectic in his preferences. A classicist in his approach to the music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, he also favors North American repertoire in his programming. Music by Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, and Antheil figure prominently in his performances. He is fascinated with the music of Lili Boulanger. He has collaborated with contemporary composers such as Steve Reich, Steven Stucky, Oskar Morawetz, Malcolm Forsyth, Allan Gilliland, John Estacio, and Aaron Jay Kernis.

As pianist, Eddins has recorded solo piano works by Beethoven, Debussy and William Albright on his own CD label. An avid chamber musician, he also conducts works by Mozart, Beethoven, Gershwin, Poulenc, Franck, Fauré and Ravel from the piano.

Eddins is the producer and host of a series of podcasts called Classical Connections, dedicated to exploring the history of classical music, and available on his website.