William McGlaughlin (October 3, 1943 – July 21, 2026) was an American composer, conductor, music educator, and Peabody Award–winning classical music radio host. He was the host and music director of the public radio programs Exploring Music and Saint Paul Sunday.
A nationally noted radio commentator from 1981 onward, McGlaughlin was known for his cheerful, open, and down-to-earth personality on classical music radio.Phillips, Lisa. Public Radio: Behind the Voices. . Vanguard Press, 2006. p. 313. Beyond his career as a broadcaster and music educator, McGlaughlin also spent a decade as a professional orchestral musician, over three decades as a conductor, and a decade as a composer. He viewed the more recent, radio broadcast aspect of his musical career as outreach – as a way to keep classical music from becoming an increasingly marginalized art form, with ever-smaller and older audiences.Phillips, Lisa. Public Radio: Behind the Voices. . Vanguard Press, 2006. p. 317.
Early life McGlaughlin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 3, 1943. His unusual accent stemmed from his Philadelphia childhood and the influence of his Scottish-American grandfather, with whom he lived during his early childhood and late teens. Bill absorbed the music of opera at a very young age, as his draftsman father listened while in his at-home workshop. When Bill was 6, his father gave him a harmonica, and together they enjoyed playing their favorite opera melodies by ear.Phillips, 2006. pp. 314–315.Family of origin; : Mother: Catharine Hogan McGlaughlin; father: William McGlaughlin, Sr.; Scottish grandfather: John Hogan. Bill was the oldest of six siblings. His father also had many instrumental classical albums, which Bill enjoyed listening to in his own bedroom.Exploring Music, episode April 21, 2008, "Tchaikovsky, Part II." Bill's mother, a high-school English teacher, was also a music lover."Music is to me, my sister, and was to my mother, a great human need. Even in these difficult times there are spiritual needs, and music is one of them. It's not a question of do we or don't we – we have to have quality music in Kansas City." Bill McGlaughlin, quoted in: Schondelmeyer, Brent. Building a First Class Bank: The Story of United Missouri Bank. United Missouri Bancshares, 1986. p. 119.
At the age of 14, McGlaughlin received his first piano lesson, quite by accident – his younger brother had been taking a series of pre-paid piano lessons but abruptly quit, so Bill was given the remainder. By his second lesson, he knew he wanted to be a professional musician, and began practicing eight hours a day.Strauss, Elaine. "Exploring & Celebrating the Uncommon Music"; . U.S. 1. June 3, 2009. Musical career Performing In high school, McGlaughlin took up the trombone, which he further studied in college, obtaining his Bachelor of Music degree from Philadelphia's Temple University in 1967.
Upon graduation in 1967 he became Assistant Principal Trombonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, a position he held through 1968. From 1969 to 1975 he was Co-Principal Trombonist of the Pittsburgh Symphony.
In addition, during these years in Pennsylvania, McGlaughlin performed in groups such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Players, which he founded in 1973,Jaques Cattell Press, ed. Who's Who in American Music: Classical. R. R. Bowker, 1983. p. 276Randel, Don Michael, ed. The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press, 1996. p. 533 the Penn Contemporary Players, and the Philadelphia Composers Forum. He also performed as trombonist during many of his 1975–1982 years with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Conducting Orchestral performance sparked McGlaughlin's interest in conducting – an interest which was encouraged by Pittsburgh Symphony's William Steinberg. In 1969 he completed a Master of Music degree in conducting at Temple University, studying under Robert Page; and in addition he received private instruction and tutelage from William R. Smith, Associate Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Max Rudolf.Cummings, David, ed. International Who's Who In Music and Musicians' Directory (in the Classical and Light Classical Fields). Routledge, 2000. p. 429Phillips, 2006. p. 316. McGlaughlin also became assistant conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra during his period with the Pittsburgh Symphony.Pan Pipes: Sigma Alpha Iota Quarterly, Volumes 81–82. Wayside Press, 1988. p. 12.Celebrate: The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. December 1979. p. 2.
During his years as a trombonist after his master's degree, he brought a full orchestral score to rehearsals, taking careful notes on how good and poor conductors handled difficult passages. In 1973, he asked Georg Solti whether he should pursue a conducting career; Solti encouraged him, but insisted he needed an orchestra to practice with. McGlaughlin formed three orchestras in Pittsburgh that year – an orchestra of college students, the Pittsburgh Camerata, and the Upper Partials Chamber Players. His practice paid off: In 1975, he was awarded the Exxon-Arts Conducting Endowment, and an assistant conductorship at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.Crafts, Fred. "Playing Wasn't Enough for St. Paul Conductor"; Eugene Register-Guard. September 22, 1980.
This led to a series of conducting positions:
1975–1982: Assistant Conductor (through 1978) and then Associate Conductor of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra 1981–1985: Music Director of the Eugene Symphony 1982–1987: Music Director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra 1986–1988: Music Director of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra 1986–1998: Music Director of the Kansas City Symphony
During his 12-year tenure with the Kansas City Symphony, McGlaughlin greatly expanded the orchestra's repertoire, commissioned many new works, recorded albums,Albums recorded under McGlaughlin's baton during his music directorship of the Kansas City Symphony include: Ghost Factory; (compositions by Anthony Davis); American Voices; and Memento Bittersweet. made two nationwide television broadcasts, including a Christmas special with the King's Singers,William McGlaughlin and the Kansas City Symphony (1987): Television broadcast catalogued hereThe King's Singers` Holiday Special With the Kansas City Symphony (1988): Television broadcast listed here; video listed here; greatly strengthened the orchestra's reputation, and brought it to a state of "unparalleled artistic and financial success"."Kansas City Symphony: Music Director to Leave."; DOS Orchestra 056. International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians, May 24, 1996. In addition, he received five ASCAP Adventurous Programming Awards for his continued performing of contemporary music, and for aiding Kansas City Symphony audiences in understanding the composers' intentions in these works.
McGlaughlin continuously had numerous guest conducting engagements, from a great variety of orchestras around the U.S.Guest conducting engagements include: Baltimore Symphony, Denver Symphony, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, New Orleans Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Opera Theatre St. Louis, American Music Theater Festival, and San Antonio Festival. ; Composing
McGlaughlin was early on a champion of living composers and new music, dating back to his Pennsylvania days and his involvement with groups such as the Penn Contemporary Players and the Philadelphia Composers Forum. McGlaughlin himself founded the Pittsburgh Camerata (1973), which focused on contemporary music, and he was a steady proponent of living composers' works in Kansas City as well. Eventually, this championing became a desire to compose on his own.
In 1998, he left his conducting position and moved to New York City to concentrate on composing. Prompted by the death of a friend who was a Kansas City pianist and composer, McGlaughlin's first major work was Three Dreams and a Question: Choral Songs on e.e. cummings – which he debuted with the Kansas City Symphony on April 28, 1998, to an enthusiastic audience and press. Some of the other 20 works he created in his first decade of composing, most of them commissioned, include: Aaron's Horizons (a tribute to colleague Aaron Copland); Echoes, for horn trio; Angelus, a 9/11 remembrance; Three Pieces for Wind Trio; Bagatelles, for saxophone quartet; The Heart's Light: An Essay for Orchestra; Three by Six, for chamber ensemble; and The Bells of St. Ferdinand, for orchestra.
For a millennial celebration, he was chosen from a field of 350 composers to write a major new work for Continental Harmony, a nationwide cultural initiative commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Composers Forum. The composition, Walt Whitman's Dream, premiered in July 2000, and celebrated the new millennium with a combined chorus of nearly 800 singers from around the world, accompanied by orchestra.
On December 15, 2005, the national two-hour daily NPR classical music radio program Performance Today announced that out of all of the music aired that week, McGlaughlin's new composition Remembering Icarus garnered the most, and the most heartfelt, listener response.Mail: Performance Today; , December 15, 2005. The piece has been re-broadcast on radio three times.
Discussing his own music, McGlaughlin described his compositional style as more intuitive than intellectual, and said that he does not shun tonality: "I think when composers turn completely away from tonality, they lose a big part of storytelling."Phillips, 2006. p. 319. Some of his work incorporates or references elements of jazz – for instance Bela's Bounce, an homage to Béla Bartók and Charlie Parker.
Radio career Saint Paul Sunday
In the late 1970s, during his conducting stint in Saint Paul, Minnesota, McGlaughlin often spoke to the audience before a performance, informally explaining the program and what to listen for. Garrison Keillor heard him, and invited him to fill in occasionally as host of his daily morning radio show on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR).Bill McGlaughlin Interview; . WCNY Blog. November 30, 2011. MPR producer Tom Voegeli came up with the idea for a new show: Saint Paul Sunday Morning, with McGlaughlin as host. MPR had just received a public radio communications satellite uplink, as well as seed money to develop a few pilot shows for national distribution. Voegeli wanted a program which would present world-class musicians, in an informal live setting in MPR's new state-of-the-art studio, to a national audience. Voegeli also wanted McGlaughlin to sound like himself – a musician – rather than like a broadcaster, and to share his own intimate, animated enthusiasm with listeners.Uslan, Rachel. "It Wouldn't Be a Sunday Without 'Saint Paul. . Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2001. p. F-26Phillips, 2006. pp. 316–317.
The show, retitled Saint Paul Sunday, debuted locally in 1980, and went national via syndication in 1981. The weekly one-hour show, which aired through 2012, featured live in-studio performances by and interviews with the world's top classical musicians, both soloists and ensembles. It was America's most widely listened to weekly classical music program produced by public radio, and aired on approximately 200 stations nationwide. The show, with McGlaughlin as host and music director since its inception, was awarded the Peabody Award in 1995.
McGlaughlin's enthusiasm for the show and the music was evident: "If I had been able to imagine Saint Paul Sunday as a kid," he says, "I think I'd have been in ecstasy at the idea of having the whole wide world of music to run around in, and best of everything, to be able to bring friends along."
Exploring Music