Biography
William Horne, an American organist and composer working in contemporary idioms, specializes in chamber music, keyboard pieces, and vocal songs. A dedicated educator, he has instructed students in music theory and composition at Loyola University New Orleans beginning in 1976. Born during 1952 in Milledgeville, Georgia, Horne launched his training at Florida State University in Tallahassee, concentrating on composition alongside piano performance. Upon receiving his degree in 1974, he pursued further study at Yale University under Krzysztof Penderecki and Yehudi Wyner. He entered the Loyola faculty the same year he completed his bachelor’s degree, later earning his DMA in composition from the University of North Texas in 1983. His Sonata for viola and piano dates from 1986, while his scholarly article “Brahms's Duesseldorf Suite Study and his Intermezzo, Op. 116, No. 2” appeared in The Musical Quarterly three years afterward. Additional essays examining the careers and output of Brahms and Beethoven have surfaced in The Journal of Musicology, NOTES, and Nineteenth-Century Music Review. Around 1996 Horne suspended composition for a decade to devote greater attention to family and classroom duties. His return occurred in 2006 via the Flute Sonata, after which his language shifted toward clearer melodic contours and tonal centers. Subsequent scores encompass Bagatelles for cello and piano, the Seascape cycle, and the Six Songs for Philip Frohmayer. Blue Griffin issued the initial collection of his music, Chamber Music of Willliam Horne, Vol. 11, in 2015. Backed by Loyola University’s Francisco M. Gonzalez M.D. Endowed Professorship, he brought out Songs by William Horne in 2018, then Chamber Music of William Horne, Vol. II in 2021 and Chamber Music of William Horne, Vol. III in 2024. He continues to reside in Covington, Louisiana, maintaining an active profile both as a creator and through his longstanding commitments at Loyola University.
Albums