Bill Perison
NOTE: Bill served as Choir Director for the January-April leg of the Song Circling All the Earth 2006 Tour. His skilled choral leadership and workshops were enthusiastically received by participants in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. Check his website for information on his availability as a clinician, his publications, and his children’s recordings—delightful! RK
Bill Perison is a composer, musician, director, producer, and Tai Chi Chuan teacher. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music at York University (1986) he spent 10 years studying Tai Chi Chuan at one of Toronto’s foremost martial arts schools. At various US national martial arts competitions he has won bronze and gold medals in both his presentation of the Tai Chi Chuan form and his skills in push-hands matches.
He is integrating his music and martial arts background by sharing with performing artists the body/mind/spirit freedom gained through Tai Chi Chuan training to help them expand their creative potential. He teaches relaxation and body/mind connection practices to conductors and choristers at workshops and at Dr. Doreen Rao’s Choral Music Experience Institute for Choral Teacher Education. He and Dr Rao have also written Circle of Sound Voice Education, a book published by Boosey and Hawkes, describing their contemplative approach to music education which is a combination of Meditation, Tai Chi Chuan and Voice, and was released at ACDA in February 2005.
As a composer and performer Bill recorded Coconut Tree, an album of original music and stories for children. He has performed in Canada and the USA and has been featured on CBC Radio. He has composed many jazz pieces for small and large ensembles, has received several choral commissions and has choral works published in the Choral Music Experience series by Boosey & Hawkes. Recent music production projects include Daybreak in My Soul by Elvira Clare and most recently another recording for children entitled Big Guys and Little Guys: A Day with Da Boys.
More details can be found at www.billperison.ca
Bill and his family live on Vancouver Island.