Photograph © H. Spenceley, Pirhuk – Greenland Mountain Guides (Greenland expedition 2016)
Bill composes music inspired by fieldwork in collaboration with artists, scientists and outdoor specialists. He maintains a busy conducting career. He is passionate about eco sail travel and trade.
His latest orchestral composition, Carrownagappul, was commissioned by the Harry Woolhouse Trust for the 25th anniversary of Imperial College Sinfonietta and was inspired by fieldwork at Carrownagappul raised bog, Galway, in collaboration with photographer, Tina Claffey, whose photographs inform the work. The premiere was at Imperial College, London in 2024. In 2018/19 he won a Finzi Scholarship to compose an orchestral piece inspired by Mountain Hares. Mountain Hare was premiered by Farnborough Symphony Orchestra in 2022. The fieldwork for Mountain Hare inspired the travel essay, Composing with Hares. The project features in a Finzi Trust podcast. In 2016 Bill collaborated with poet, Helen Mort, on an exploratory climbing expedition above glaciers in East Greenland for a commission from The Little Baroque Company. The resulting piece, The Singing Glacier, includes original spoken poetry by Helen, and has been performed at festivals in London, Sheffield, Aldeburgh, Wells-next-the-Sea and Inchigeelagh, Cork. Helen’s poetry and the project were celebrated by Hercules Editions in a chapbook of the same name, with paintings by Emma Stibbon RA. Upcoming projects include The Sea of Trees which involves sailing to the Faroe Islands to research birdsong and phytoplankton – the so-called ‘marine forest’. Bill is Artistic Director of Farnborough Symphony Orchestra and St Albans Symphony Orchestra, and he guest conducts widely. He is co-founder of Guild of Ships – a booking system and circular economy platform for traditional sail travel.
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