William L. (Bill) Cahn - Bio (2024)
Bill Cahn has been a member of the NEXUS, the Toronto-based percussion group since 1971 performing with renowned symphony orchestras and in solo concerts worldwide. From 2005 to 2015 he was Associate Professor of Percussion at the Eastman School of Music and a visiting artist in residence at the Showa Academy of Music in Kawasaki, Japan. Bill was the principal percussionist in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 to 1995. He has served on the RPO Education Committee since 1972, and he is a life member of the orchestra’s Honorary Board of Directors.
Bill has performed with conductors, composers, ensembles, and artists representing many musical styles, including Chet Atkins, John Cage, Aaron Copland, Sir Andrew Davis, Chuck Mangione, Mitch Miller, Seiji Ozawa, Doc Severensen, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Edgar Varese, and Paul Winter. His book, “Creative Music Making” (2005), on freeform improvisation is published by Routledge Books. Bill’s workshops and residencies include community hand drumming, improvisation, careers in music, and the business of music.
Bill received the Rochester Philharmonic League’s FANFARE AWARD (1988) for a “significant contribution to music education in Rochester,” Mu Phi Epsilon’s MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD (1993), the SABIAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (2005), the Arts and Cultural Council of Greater Rochester LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (2015), and the Eastman School of Music Centennial Award (2022). In 2006 Bill received a GRAMMY Award with the Paul Winter Consort.
With NEXUS Bill received the TORONTO ARTS AWARD in music (1989), the BANFF CENTRE FOR THE ARTS NATIONAL AWARD (1997), and induction into the Percussive Arts Society’s HALL OF FAME (1999),
Bill lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York with his wife, Ruth, who is also a percussionist and a renowned teacher and administrator. Their 53rd anniversary was celebrated in 2023.
For more information contact: William L. Cahn
Tel.(585) 582-2508 Website: www.nexuspercussion.com