About Dr. William Bryant
Biography
Dr. William Fletcher Bryant is an accomplished composer, conductor, and organist with a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Washington, where he studied under the guidance of Dr. Carol Terry. He previously studied at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where he earned a master’s degree, double majoring in composition and organ performance, and his undergraduate degree, double majoring in composition and oboe performance. He studied composition under Dr. Don Freund, Dr. P.Q. Phan, Dr. Claude Baker, and Dr. Aaron Travers. His organ studies were under the tutelage of Prof. Bruce Neswick, oboe studies under Prof. Linda Strommen and Prof. Roger Roe, and clarinet studies under Prof. James Campbell. He has performed in Austria, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, and Switzerland.
Dr. Bryant is the present Director of Music at Faith Lutheran Church in Redmond, WA where he also chairs the committee for the Fine Arts at Faith Concert Series. Previously, he was the organist at Mercer Island Presbyterian Church in Mercer Island, WA. Before this, he held the role of organist at University Lutheran Church–Seattle and was responsible for overseeing a major organ rebuild project with Marceau Pipe Organ Builders which merged and restored two of the church’s pipe organs. Dr. Bryant debuted the revitalized organ on Palm Sunday of 2016 and was showcased in a dedication service and concert orchestrated in October of that year.
Dr. Bryant received several awards for his diverse compositions, many of which were commissioned pieces. He was responsible for composing and arranging for the Singing Hoosiers at Indiana University from 2012–2013. Dr. Bryant’s organ prelude The Transfiguration of Our Lord was published by Morning Star Publications and his viola concerto, A San Francisco Evening, was published by Lambert Academic Publishing. In 2017, he was commissioned by University Lutheran Church–Seattle to compose a choral work for organ, choir, and congregation in celebration of their 100-year anniversary. Dr. Bryant’s other accolades include winning Indiana University’s “Kids Compose” composition contest, along with winning second place and honorable mention in the Arden and Harry Fisher Young Composer’s Competition sponsored by Webster University.
Dr. Bryant is also very active in the Seattle music community where he is the Second Clarinetist with the Seattle Festival Orchestra. He also performs with many local theatres as a reed and keyboard player and has been involved with productions at Seattle Musical Theatre, Centerstage! Theatre, Bainbridge Performing Arts, Studio East, Burien Actors Theatre, HEARTS, Lowbrow Opera Collective, Pullman vs Paxton, Twelfth Night Productions, and Showtunes. Dr. Bryant has also appeared as guest soloist on the organ with the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, the Puget Sound Symphony, and the Seattle Festival Orchestra.
Dr. Bryant has also held various positions with the American Guild of Organists and loves to promote new, American based literature within the organ repertoire.