William Short

Appointed Principal Bassoon of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2012, William Short previously served in the same capacity with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with the Houston Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He serves on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music, the Juilliard School, and Temple University.

William has toured the United States with Curtis on Tour and has performed and taught in Belize, Cuba, Guatemala, and Nicaragua with the Philadelphia-based wind quintet Liberty Winds. His performances have been featured on American Public Media’s Performance Today and on WHYY-TV’s Onstage at Curtis. An occasional composer, his works have been published by TrevCo-Varner Music.

William Short has performed and taught at the Lake Tahoe, Mostly Mozart, Stellenbosch (South Africa), Strings, Twickenham, and Verbier festivals. In 2015 he made his solo debut with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, performing David Ludwig’s Pictures from the Floating World.

A dedicated teacher, Mr. Short has coached students from the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America and the New York Youth Symphony. He has taught at the Advanced Double Reed Institute of Texas and been a guest artist at the New York Summer Music Festival and Glickman Popkin Bassoon Camp, as well as presenting classes at colleges and conservatories around the country and at the 2014 International Double Reed Society Conference.

Committed to forging connections between audiences and performers, William Short’s articles on the subject can be found on the Met Orchestra musicians’ website, www.metorchestramusicians.org , which has been lauded not only by The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, but also by noted arts consultant Drew McManus and prolific cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht.

William Short received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Daniel Matsukawa and Bernard Garfield, and his Master of Music degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Kamins. He attended the Music Academy of the West, Pacific Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, and Verbier Festival. Other major teachers include Jeanine Attaway, Kristin Wolfe Jensen, and William Lewis.