William Stackpole

Will Stackpole is a composer, guitarist, and audio engineer. He writes music for orchestras and small acoustic ensembles, sometimes featuring applications of amplified sound and real-time audio processing.

Will Stackpole has been a part of the Stevens Music & Technology community for nearly twenty years, where he completed his undergraduate degree in 2012. After earning his doctorate from the Juilliard School, Stackpole returned to Stevens where he has been a Lecturer since 2022. In addition to teaching private composition lessons in the Music & Technology program, Stackpole teaches courses in composition, music history, orchestration, and related topics.

Dr. Stackpole's music has been performed and received awards across the country from many notable organizations including the American Composers Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, The New Juilliard Ensemble, and Attacca Quartet among many others. His work occupies a unique space in American concert music. Stackpole's sound is informed by an incredible variety of musical approaches, while notably avoiding adherence to any singular method, often changing from piece to piece, depending on its themes. The result is a style and language that has been referred to as teetering on the edge of tonality in the most fascinating ways. Stackpole's background in audio engineering gives his works a unique sensibility which often fuses acoustic and amplified sounds.

Beyond the concert-music world, Stackpole has also written music for television, film, and theater. His work has been featured on broadcast programming from several major networks including Discovery, TruTV, and Animal Planet.

In addition to his work as a composer, Stackpole is also an audio engineer and producer. In 2023, he collaborated with Red Dog Ensemble to produce the album Neon and Oak which also featured his chamber symphony L'Abîme. Stackpole has also worked with classical artists in New York for over a decade creating high quality concert recordings.

Dr. Stackpole studied composition with Andy Brick, Justin Dello Joio, Steven Stucky, and Melinda Wagner.

2025 - Albany Symphony - Orchestrating for the 21st Century
2024 - Chamber Music America - Concept Lab, featured composer
2023 - New York Composers Circle - John Eaton Memorial Prize
2022 - American Composers Orchestra - Earshot recipient
2020 - The Juilliard School - Arthur Friedman Prize
2020, '18, & '16 - The Juilliard School - Orchestral Composition Competition Winner
2019 - Avaloch Farm Music Institute Residency with Red Dog Ensemble
2019 - The Composers Guild of NJ - Project Support for Neon & Oak
2019 - Aspen Music Festival - Susan and Ford Schumann Composition Fellow
2018 - American Academy Of Arts & Letters - Charles Ives Fellowship Nominee
2018 - Avaloch Farm Music Institute Residency
2017 - New York City Ballet - Choreographic Institute Composer
2016 - New Jersey Symphony Orchestra - Edward T. Cone Composer Institute Fellow

2021 - Aaron Copland Fund - Special Grant for Research
2021 - Voices of Change Commission for Benjamin Hochman - "Letters to Distant Cities" for Piano
2019 - Aspen Contemporary Ensemble Commission - "Music from a Dark Room" for chamber ensemble
2017 - New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute Commission - "Interle[a]ve" for chamber ensemble

Album contributions
2023 - composer, producer, engineer | Neon & Oak by Red Dog Ensemble, released by Lexicon Classics
2023 - contributing engineer | Justin Dello Joio - Ocean's Apart featuring Garrick Ohlson with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Alan Gilbert, Carter Brey, Christopher O’Riley, American Brass Quintet, and Colin Fowler, released by Bridge Records
2020 - composer | Banter by the Levin-Davin Duo, released by Iris Records

Scores
Stackpole, Will (2025). "This Is All Just Fine" for chamber ensemble. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2025). "A Reflection in Time" for piano with live audio. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2025). "Echoes in the Grain" arrangement for double string orchestra. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2024). "Letters to Distant Cities" for piano. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2024). "Halation Sketches" for string quartet. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2023). "Grimalkin" for solo viola. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2023). "Lore" for solo guitar. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2023). "Echoes in the Grain" for two string quartets. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2022). 2 Etudes for Clarinet. Part of "New 32 Etudes for Clarinet" commissioned and compiled by Joshua Anderson. Tecumseh, MI. Conway Publications.
Stackpole, Will (2022). "Unbeing (for a Time" arrangement for chamber ensemble. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2022). "Here Without Trying" for string quartet. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2019). "L'Abîme" for chamber ensemble. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2019). "Music from a Dark Room" for chamber ensemble. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2018). "Chimera" for solo violin. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2017). "Palette… or palate" for string trio. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2017). "From Scratch" for violin and piano. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2017). "Prey" for clarinet quartet. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2017). "Interle[a]ve" for chamber ensemble. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.
Stackpole, Will (2016). "Banter, Bicker, Breathe" for harp and guitar. New York, NY. Stackpole Publishing.

Academic Writings
Stackpole, William (2022). Steven Stucky: Curator, Connoisseur, Craftsman - A Biography and Exploration of Three Orchestral Works by "America's Composer-In-Residence." New York, NY. The Juilliard School.

HMU 101 - History of European Music 1
HMU 102 - History of European Music 2
HMU 203 - Ear Training
HMU 231 - Sound Recording I
HMU 232 - Sound Recording II
HMU 303 - Music Theory 3
HMU 310 - Music Composition
HMU 313 - Music in Film and Media
HMU 397 - Orchestration 1
HMU 398 - Orchestration 2
HASS 498 - Thesis Preparation
HASS 499 - Senior Thesis