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This year marks the 100 th anniversary of the birth of William Gillock (1917-1993). Few composers have impacted students and piano teachers across the globe as much as Gillock did. Almost 25 years after his passing, his compositions are still in wide use today, appearing on state and national repertoire lists across the country, the ABRSM Exam syllabus and in Japan, where he is beloved, to name a few. The late Lynn Freeman Olson observed "the Gillock name spells magic to teachers around the world," and Martha Hilley of the University of Texas wrote in her article about Gillock, published in 1993: "Teachers knew there was no question of whether to purchase his music; they simply bought it, took it home, and taught it; and student interest and success were almost assured."1
What was true then, still rings true today. Gillock's music simply has the ingredients of being instantly appealing and musically gratifying for the student. What greater legacy could any pedagogical composer desire? But that isn't where Gillock's appeal or legacy ends. He was equally renowned for his astute abilities as an adjudicator and for the hundreds of inspirational workshops he gave for Willis Music Company. For those who knew him personally, he was cherished for who he was as a person as much as he was for his music.
Without exception, everyone with whom I've had a conversation about William Gillock describes him as the gentlest person you would ever want to meet, and said he made you feel as if you were the most important person in the room. Glenda Austin, whom he mentored as a young teacher, described him as being patient, generous, charismatic and kind. Others said he was inquisitive, intelligent, humble, even self-deprecating and never one to put on airs. In my personal view, he was always a gentleman, elegant and refined. He took time to linger, whether it was with you or in his music, and wanted you to share in the beauty of whatever commanded his attention.
I met William Gillock in the fall of 1983. I was 26, and my career in the retail print music industry was just beginning. He had agreed to let me interview him for our store newsletter, and I remember feeling...