Bill Lydell

Bill remembers his first musical experience humming harmony to tunes on the radio. He began piano lessons with his father as teacher around age 6, then started with trumpet in 4th grade. At grade 7 he started playing trumpet in the high school band directed by the college band director. In 1948 Bill was fortunate as winner of a music contest sponsored by the New York Philharmonic and CBS. This trip to New York City enabled Bill to attend concerts, the opera, Broadway plays, and also to meet famous musicians, and especially conductor Leopold Stokowski. While there, he was offered a job by James Fawcett, head of the music department at CBS.

In college Bill switched to French horn in college band as he enjoyed the challenge. He continued to play trumpet for marching band and athletic events. He had sung in choir all through school. While in college, he played with Lloyd Nelson and the Campus Cadets all over the state - playing proms, balls, and barn dances. Bill graduated from Valley City with majors in Music Education and English.

After college, Bill served in the army and on discharge was offered a job by Hilton Hotels to be a pianist worldwide, but instead chose to begin his teaching career. He taught band and choir in Hoffman, Minnesota, for three years, then continued his education at the University of Michigan earning a Master's of Music degree in piano performance.

The rest of Bill's 31-year teaching career began now in Minneapolis where he taught choirs, orchestra, music theory, voice lessons, directing many performances each year including shows based on Broadway plays. His choirs performed in concert both with the Minnesota Orchestra and with the University of Minnesota orchestra. In 1969 the choir was invited to perform at the Savonlinna, Finland, Opera Festival, which brought a tour of the 90-student choir to sing at special performances in each of the Scandinavian capital cities. This trip was followed two years later with an invitation to participate at a festival in Guildford, England, and was continued with performances in Holland, Belgium, and France. A highlight for the choirs was singing in the magnificent Cathedral of Chartres in France.

While teaching, Bill also served as church organist and choir director, as a music editor for Schmitt, Hall, McCreary, and as a judge for state high school music contests. After retiring, Bill's jazz band has played hundreds of engagements throughout the Twin Cities. For the last few years, Bill has been specializing in solo piano, and he currently volunteers at the Minneapolis Regional Veterans Hospital playing music for the patients and staff.