William Berz is Professor of Music at the Mason Gross School of the Arts of Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey. He has given premières of many new works for winds, and he has won the praise of many distinguished composers, including Charles Wuorinen, David Del Tredici, Roger Nixon, Walter Hartley, Eric Whitacre, Martin Ellerby, Adam Gorb, Jonathan Newman, Kenneth Lampl, John Mackey, Mark Zuckerman, Daniel Ott, Eric Moe, Michael Daugherty, Frank Ticheli, Norman Dello Joio, and H. Owen Reed. He served as Music Director and Conductor of the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra from 1988 until 1994. From 1984 until 1989 he was Assistant Conductor of The Jupiter Symphony and Naumburg Orchestra, both of New York City. In addition to his work as a conductor, he is active as a researcher and writer, and has published a number of articles and presented many sessions in music education and conducting.