William Black (5)

William David Black (February 23, 1952 – December 10, 2003) was an American pianist and teacher. William Davis Black was born in Dallas, Texas. He had a sister, Beverley, and a brother, the pianist, conductor and composer Robert Black. He studied at Oberlin College; with Rosina Lhévinne and Beveridge Webster at the Juilliard School in New York, earning a master's degree in 1976 and a doctorate in 1979; and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He gave recitals and concerts at such venues in the United States as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and in many overseas countries. He was a longtime consulting editor for Keyboard Classics/Piano Today. He joined the piano department at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music in 1987. At his death, he was chair of the department. William Black died of cancer in 2003, aged 51. He was survived by his widow, twin children, parents and sister. His brother Robert had also died of cancer, in 1993, aged only 43. The William Black Memorial Prize in Piano, a $5,000 scholarship to support undergraduate piano study, is the only program of its kind in U.S. music schools and conservatories. -- Notes from Wikipedia William Black is a champion of many contemporary American composers, and has played world premieres of works by composers such as Aaron Copland and David Diamond, including the latter's "Concertino for Piano and Small Orchestra". Mr. Black also distinguishes himself as an interpreter of the classics. He frequently performs single-composer recitals featuring works of Chopin, Schumann, Beethoven, and recently made the first recording of the original version of the "Fourth Piano Concerto" of Sergei Rachmaninoff for Chandos Records. -- Notes from Liner Notes (Albany Records, Troy 061, "Music of Hunter Johnson") by Hunter Johnson, 1991