William Joseph Schmidt

William Joseph Schmidt, Jr., classical music composer, arranger and publisher, was born March 6, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, and died April 25, 2009 in Greeley, Colorado. William Schmidt began playing the saxophone at the age of six and later added clarinet and piano to his studies. He started playing professionally by the time he was 12, and began arranging music a few years later. During World War II, he served in the Navy (1944-46) as musician and arranger in the Admiral’s band on the USS Iowa in the Pacific. During the Korean War, he served again in the Navy (1950-52) as musician and arranger on the USS Tarawa in the Mediterranean. In the years between military service William Schmidt attended Chicago Musical College under the tutelage of Max Wald. In 1952 he moved to Los Angeles where he attended the University of Southern California, studying with Ingolf Dahl. Mr. Schmidt received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees there, with honors, in Music Composition. In the early 1950s Mr. Schmidt’s interests turned to classical composition, and in 1959 he started publishing classical music. Thus began a long career as an innovative publisher, along with his composing and arranging, which continued through the rest of his life. This year is the 50th anniversary of his publishing company Avant Music, which became the core of Western International Music, Inc. (WIM) in 1964, of which he was founder and president. The WIM Catalog, known internationally, now has nearly 1400 compositions listed, plus recordings of its publications. In 1956 William Schmidt received a DuPont Band Composition Award, and from 1970-76 recording grants from the Ford Foundation. In 1981 he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in music for his Double Concerto for Trumpet, Piano and Chamber Orchestra, commissioned, premiered, broadcast and recorded by the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra in California. He was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and received awards from that Society from 1979 till his death. From 1956 to 2008 he received commissions from many musicians, universities, festivals, and international professional organizations, including several commissions at the University of Northern Colorado. After moving to Greeley, Colorado in 1987 Mr. Schmidt won the City’s competition for writing a trumpet fanfare to commemorate the new performance hall. A Greeley Fanfare for 6 Trumpets opened the Union Colony Civic Center in Greeley in 1988; the original manuscript is enclosed in the time capsule of the building’s cornerstone. In 1989 he won the Creative Fellowship in Music Composition awarded by the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities. In 1990 he was Composer-In-Residence at the Breckenridge Music Festival. Much of William Schmidt’s music is influenced by jazz and folk music. He composed and arranged music primarily for saxophone, woodwinds, brass and percussion—from solos and chamber music, to clarinet choir, brass choir, symphonic winds, band and orchestra—a total of 160 original compositions, and 470 arrangements. All but the last few compositions have been published. His works have been recorded by over 50 recording companies. An energetic and enthusiastic spokesman of high standards for classical music in education, Mr. Schmidt was also passionate about backpacking, photography, gardening, and studying Asian art, textiles and architecture. William Schmidt is survived by his wife and professional partner of 43 years, pianist and composer Sharon Davis, and their daughter Heidi; also by two children from his first marriage, to Eva Sweisberger: Pamela Diane and William Joseph III. The University of Northern Colorado Tribute to William Schmidt, a concert of Mr. Schmidt’s music and life, has been scheduled for Tuesday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Monfort Hall at the Union Colony Civic Center. Admission is free and open to the public.