William E. Novak
The Learning and Growing Composer:
Helping you, your students, and I create and realize a better world through music.
About me
Learning and growing are the most important things you can do each and every day.
I am a composer, conductor, and music educator currently teaching band, choir, and general music in Phoenix, Arizona. With over a decade’s worth of experience educating students (ranging in age from pre-K through university marching band) and myself, I am passionate about building lifelong learners, thrivers, problem-solvers, and creative thinkers.
My philosophy is that there is something to be learned from every single day, even my most challenging ones. If I can learn one thing about our world that I didn’t the night before, even the worst day can be salvaged. I believe that EVERY student WILL learn and grow, and that EVERY student WILL make mistakes; it is our job as educators to help them realize the growth potential of said mistakes. Let’s destroy the taboo around making mistakes.
As a composer and arranger, I have studied under the tutelage of Professor Jay C. Rees at the University of Arizona, where I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Theory and with the late Dinos Constantinides at Louisiana State University, where I received a Masters in Music Composition degree. You can listen to samples of my work here.
Let’s talk
In the words of…
Bill is a once-in-a-blue-moon collaborative partner. He is the type of person you always hope you end up working with when you gather a team of creative minds to build complex projects. He brings passion and zeal to everything and draws it out of others. His energy as a conductor is infectious.
A once-in-several-generations composer, Bill pushes the limits and reaches of the art form. He’s like Mozart, but instead, he’s my son…
Bill possesses an impressive portfolio of compositions, each very unique and individualized… with all of his experience, Bill is very teachable. Actually, his openness and desire to learn is unprecedented in students with whom I have worked. He listens to new music constantly, is interested in refining his craft… and is very eager to do so.
— Jack Stamp
William E. Novak 