B.Mus. in Violin, New England Conservatory of Music (1961)
M.Mus. in Composition, New England Conservatory of Music (1963)
Ph.D in Composition, University of Iowa (1967)
Principal teachers: Francis Judd Cooke, Donald Martino and Richard Hervig

William Hibbard was a distinguished composer, conductor, violist and teacher. He was appointed to the University of Iowa Music Composition faculty in 1966, and promoted to full professor in 1977. He became Chair of the Theory and Composition area in the School of Music in 1982. He served as Music Director of the University's professional new music ensemble, the Center for New Music, from its inception in 1966 through 1988. In addition, he served as Director of the University's Center for New Performing Arts, an interdisciplinary arts project funded jointly by the Rockefeller Foundation and the University of Iowa, from 1965 through 1975. Both organizations have made enormous contributions to the promotion, understanding and advancement of new music and art. In 1986 the Center for New Music received the Commendation of Excellence Award from Broadcast Music Inc (BMI). In 1990 the American Composers Alliance conferred its Laurel Leaf Award upon the Center for New Music "in memoriam William Hibbard."

As a violist, he served as Principal Viola of the Quad City Symphony (James Dixon, Music Director) from 1984 through late 1988. In addition, he was founder and Director of the Iowa City String Orchestra from 1980 to 1986.

As a composer, he wrote more than forty works, including compositions for mixed chamber ensembles, voice, orchestra and solo instruments. His musical compositions employ strict serial techniques with virtuoso instrumental writing, contrapuntal complexity and unique orchestration. His composition Ménage (1974) for soprano, trumpet and violin was selected by the U.S. jury as one of five American works to be submitted for the 1977 ISCM Festival in Bonn, Germany. In 1988 he was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the New England Conservatory.

William Hibbard died of AIDS in San Francisco at the age of 49 on April 5, 1989.

When asked to describe his music for the Lingua Press Collection II Catalogue, he wrote: "When asked for my views of my own music I freeze. Such requests seek to elicit a verbal – and, it seems to me falsely concrete – grasp to a composer's sonic abstractions. Personally, I desire to fashion something wrought well. Logic and imagination interact to fertilize and focus those desires so that, in the end, the music itself may say it all."

—Paul Paccione

WORKS:

ORCHESTRA/LARGE ENSEMBLE

Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
for: viola solo, orchestra
date: 1977
duration: 23:00
published: Associated Music Publishers (rental)

Consorts for Winds, Brass and Percussion
for: winds, brass, percussion
date: 1984
note: commissioned by Iowa Bands, Myron Welch, director

Four Pieces
for: flute, clarinet, horn, trombone, violin, double bass, piano, vibraphone, percussion
date: 1962
published: American Composers Alliance
source: New York Public Library

Processionals
for: orchestra: 3222 4231 str
date: 1980
duration: 12:00
published: Associated Music Publishers (rental)
source: American Music Center
note: commissioned by American Composers Orchestra, New York

Reliefs
for: orchestra: 3333 6441 timp, perc hrp pno str
date: 1962
duration: 16:00
source: American Music Center

Sinfonia on Expanding Matrices
for: string orchestra
date: 1983
duration: 8:00
published: American Composers Alliance (rental)

Stabiles for 13 Instruments
for: flute, alto flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, vibraphone, harp, piano, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass
date: 1968
duration: 8:00
published: Associated Music Publishers (rental)
source: American Music Center

CHAMBER

Bass Trombone, Bass Clarinet, Harp
for: bass trombone, bass clarinet, harp
date: 1973
duration: 8:00
published: E.C. Schirmer/Ione Press (permanently out of print)
source: American Music Center
recorded: Jon English, bass trombone, Charles West, bass clarinet, Motter Forman, harp, William Hibbard, conductor. CRI SD 324 (LP, 1975), Music & Arts CD 675 (1991), CRI CD 721 (1996).

Duo
for: clarinet, vibraphone
date: 1987

A Euphonious Duet on Expanding Matrices
for: 2 violins
date: 1982
published: American Composers Alliance

Fantasy
for: organ, trumpet, trombone, 2 percussion
date: 1965
note: commissioned by Boston Symphony Orchestra and American Guild of Organists

Gestures
for: flute, double bass, marimba, percussion
date: 1963, revised 1969
published: American Composers Alliance
source: New York Public Library

Intersections I, II
for: woodwind quintet, piano, 5 percussionists
date: 1966

One Round ... and Another One
for: vibraphone, 2 pianos
date: 1979
published: American Composers Alliance
source: American Music Center

P/M Variations
for: 2 double basses
date: 1975/1982
published: American Composers Alliance

P/M Variations, Revisited
for: 4 double basses
date: 1982
published: American Composers Alliance
source: American Music Center

Portraits
for: flute and piano
date: 1963, revised 1964
published: E. C. Schirmer/Ione Press 2097

String Quartet (Quartet for Strings)
for: string quartet
date: 1971
published: E.C. Schirmer/Ione Press 646
source: American Music Center; New York Public Library
recorded: Stradivari Quartet. CRI SD 322 (LP, 1974), Music & Arts CD 675 (1991).

String Trio (Trio for Strings)
for: violin, viola, cello
date: 1963
published: E. C. Schirmer/Ione Press 642
source: New York Public Library

Trio
for: violin, clarinet, guitar
date: 1959

Variations for Brass Nonet
for: 3 trumpets, 3 horns, 3 trombones
date: 1960
published: Associated Music Publishers (out of print)

SOLO INSTRUMENT

Caprice for Unaccompanied Viola
for: viola
date: 1979
published: American Composers Alliance
source: American Music Center

Expanding Matrices: Four Mirror Etudes in First Position for Viola Solo
for: viola
date: 1982
published: American Composers Alliance

Handwork
for: piano
date: 1986
note: commissioned by Garrick Ohlsson
published: American Composers Alliance
source: American Music Center
recorded: Garrick Ohlsson, piano. Music & Arts CD 675 (1991).

Parsons' Piece
for: solo percussion (3 gongs, 3 cowbells, 3 cymbals, 3 drums)
date: 1968, revised 1974
note: written for William Parsons
published: E.C. Schirmer/Ione Press (permanently out of print)
source: American Music Center; New York Public Library
recorded: William Parsons, percussion. Music & Arts CD 675 (1991).

Reflexa III
for: viola
date: 1973

Schickstueck
for: vibraphone
date: 1981
published: American Composers Alliance
note: commissioned by Steven Schick
recorded: Steven Schick, percussion. Music & Arts CD 675 (1991).

Three Pieces for Viola Alone
for: viola
date: 1983

Variations for Violoncello Solo
for: violoncello
date: 1969
published: E.C. Schirmer/Ione Press
source: American Music Center

VOCAL & CHORAL

The Dream Lady (song cycle)
for: alto, flute, alto saxophone, bassoon, 2 violas, cello
date: 1958
text: ?

A Letter of Condolence
for: baritone solo
date: 1982
text: Abraham Lincoln
source: Paul Paccione

Ménage
for: soprano, trumpet, violin
date: 1974, revised 1978
duration: ca. 8:30
text: "Ménage employs no text, only vocal timbres indicated by the international phonetic alphabet."
note: commissioned by the Society for Commissioning New Music, Baton Rouge, LA
published: Lingua Press
source: American Music Center; New York Public Library
recorded: Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano, Benjamin Hudson, violin, Allan Dean, trumpet. CRI SD 498 (LP), Music & Arts CD 675 (1991)

Reflexa
for: soprano, flute, trombone, cello, harp, vibes/marimba
date: 1970
text: ?
published: American Composers Alliance

Super Flumina Babylonis (motet)
for: soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, 2 basses, string sextet
date: 1967
text: Psalm 137
published: American Composers Alliance

Three Whitman Miniatures
for: SSATBB and piano
text: Walt Whitman
date: 1983
published: Associated Music Publishers (out of print)

FILM SCORES

Girl on a Landscape
for: piano and percussion
date: 1966
note: American Film Institute prize; commissioned by David Abrahmson, director.

Portraits for Eternity
for: unknown
date: 1963
note: Produced by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. See Portraits for flute and piano, above.

OTHER WORKS:

Sensuous Extractions
listed: BMI database

Thesis
listed: BMI database

UNCOMPLETED WORKS:
Lincoln/Lincoln (opera)
libretto: Nastav

WRITINGS:
"Some Aspects of Serial Improvisation," American Guild of Organists Quarterly, Part One: October 1966; Part Two: January 1967.
"Charles Wuorinen: The Politics of Harmony," review, Perspectives of New Music, vii/2 (1968-69), pp.155-70.
Various program notes for recordings and performances.

PERFORMING EDITIONS:

Musica del'Estate for Viola Solo by Donald Jenni, written for and edited by William Hibbard. New York: Associated Music Publishers, 1974.
Variations III for Viola Alone by Dennis Riley, written for and edited by William Hibbard. New York: C.F. Peters Corp., 1973.

DISCOGRAPHY:

CDs:
In Memoriam William Hibbard: Parson's Piece, William Parsons, percussion; String Quartet, Stradivari Quartet; Bass Trombone, Bass Clarinet, Harp and Ménage, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; Schickstück, Steven Schick, vibraphone; Handwork, Garrick Ohlsson, piano. (String Quartet, Bass Trombone, Bass Clarinet, Harp and Ménage reissued from CRI LP recordings). Music & Arts CD 675 (1991).
"Bass Trombone, Bass Clarinet, Harp," Gay American Composers, CRI CD 721 (1996).

LPs:
String Quartet, Stradivari Quartet. CRI SD 322 (LP, 1974).
"Bass Trombone, Bass Clarinet, Harp," Jon English, bass trombone, Charles West, bass clarinet, Motter Forman, harp, William Hibbard, conductor, Contemporary Music from The University of Iowa. CRI SD 324 (LP, 1975).
Ménage, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano. CRI SD 498 (LP, 1983).

As Performer:
Richard Hervig: Chamber Music for Six Players, University of Iowa School of Music faculty, William Hibbard, conductor. CRI SD 380 (LP, 1978).
Kenneth Gaburo: Line Studies, Members of the Center for New Music, University of Iowa, William Hibbard, viola/conductor, February 11, 1984. Musicworks 75 (CD, Fall 1999).
William Matthews: Letters from Home, University of Iowa Center for New Music Ensemble, William Hibbard, viola (ensemble member), James Dixon, conductor. CRI SD 375 (LP, 1978).
Contemporary Music from The University of Iowa, William Hibbard violist in "Cucumber Music" by Donald Martin Jenni and "Variations II: Trio" by Dennis Riley. CRI SD 324 (LP, 1875).
Ezra Sims: Chamber Music on Chinese Poems, William Hibbard, viola. CRI SD 186 (LP, 1964).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• "William Hibbard," liner notes to recording, Gay American Composers, CRI CD 721 (1996)
• "William Hibbard In Memoriam," liner notes by Lowell Cross, Music & Arts CD 675 (1991)
• A History of the Center for New Music at the University of Iowa, 1966-1991 by Barbara C. Phillips Farley, dissertation for D.M.A, University of Iowa, 1991. 202 pp., UMI No. DA9203123. (Includes interview with Hibbard).
• Lingua Press Collection II Catalogue, November 1977 (distributed by Frog Peak Music).

PERFORMING RIGHTS AFFILIATION:
BMI

RESOURCES:
American Composers Alliance
73 Spring Street
Room 505
New York NY 10012
Tel: (212) 362-8900
Fax: (212) 925-6798
info@composers.com
www.composers.com

American Music Center
30 West 26th Street
Suite 1001
New York, NY 10010
Tel: (212) 366-5260
Fax: (212) 366-5265
www.amc.net

American Music Center Collection
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-7498
www.nypl.org

Hal Leonard Corporation
7777 West Bluemound Road
Milwaukee, WI 53213
Tel: (414) 774-3630
Fax: (414) 774-3259
halinfo@halleonard.com
www.halleonard.com

Lingua Press
Frog Peak Music
Box 1052
Lebanon, NH 03766
Tel/Fax: (603) 448-8837
fp@frogpeak.org
www.frogpeak.org

E. C. Schirmer Music Co./Ione Press
ECS Publishing
138 Ipswich Street
Boston MA 02215-3534
Tel: (617) 236-1935 ask for Order Department
Fax: (617) 236-0261
office@ecspublishing.com
www.ecspublishing.com

G. Schirmer/Associated Music Publishers
257 Park Avenue South
New York NY 10010
Tel: (212) 254-2100
Fax: (212) 254-2013
schirmer@schirmer.com
www.schirmer.com

MUSICAL EXECUTOR:
James Dixon (conductor, companion)
111 Steiner Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 626-3473

OTHER CONTACTS:
Richard Hervig (composer, friend)
1822 Rochester Avenue
Iowa City, IA 52245
(319) 338-4183

Paul Paccione (composer, friend)
Western Illinois University
Department of Music
College of Fine Arts
Browne Hall 122
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455-1390
P-Paccione@wiu.edu