William Winant

Bio

William Winant is an avant-garde percussionist who has performed and collaborated with musicians and musical acts as diverse as Sonic Youth, Mr. Bungle, John Zorn, and Oingo Boingo. He has studied with James Tenney, Steve Reich, and John Bergamo, played music with The Kronos String Quartet, Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Roscoe Mitchell, Keith Jarrett, and Yo-Yo Ma, and has recorded music with Christian Wolff and Danny Elfman. He is currently principal percussionist with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and the John Zorn Chamber Ensemble and has been the percussionist with the avant-rock band Mr. Bungle since 1995. Composers who have written works for Winant include Chris Brown, Alvin Curran, Fred Frith, Peter Garland, Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, David Rosenboom, Somei Satoh, Wadada Leo Smith, and John Zorn. Winant received a B.F.A. from York University in 1978 and an M.F.A. from Mills College in 1982. Winant is a visiting Lecturer in Music at the University of California Santa Cruz and Mills College.