Rhidian bridge biography of william
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MATHIAS, WILLIAM JAMES (1934-1992), composer and teacher
Name: William James Mathias
Date of birth: 1934
Date of death: 1992
Gender: Male
Occupation: composer and teacher
Area of activity: Education; Music
Author: Rhidian Griffiths
William Mathias was born on 1 November 1934 in Whitland.
Rhidian bridge biography of william
His father, James Hughes Mathias (1893-1969), was a history teacher at Whitland Grammar School and his mother Marian (née Evans, 1896-1980) was an organist and pianist. At the age of six he began to take piano lessons with David Lloyd Phillips of Llanfyrnach, and it was to him that Mathias dedicated his sonata for piano, op.23.
In 1952 he went to the University College of Wales Aberystwyth to study with Ian Parrott. He graduated in 1956 and took an open scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music to study composition with Lennox Berkeley and piano with Peter Katin.
In 1959 he was appointed a lecturer in music at the University College in Bangor, where he remained until he moved