Bill Cahn has been a member of Nexus, the Toronto-based percussion ensemble, since its formation in 1971, performing on concerts, films, recordings, and broadcasts on radio and television all over the world. He was the principal percussionist in the Rochester (NY) Philharmonic Orchestra from 1968 to 1995, and he has appeared as soloist with symphony orchestras and at music festivals throughout the world.



Born in Philadelphia in 1946, Bill has performed with conductors, composers, ensembles, and popular artists representing diverse musical styles - among them, Chet Atkins, John Cage, Carlos Chavez, Aaron Copland, Jimmy Durante, the Chuck Mangione Orchestra, Marian McPartland, the Marlboro Music Festival, Mitch Miller, Seiji Ozawa, Steve Reich, Doc Severensen, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Stravinsky, Edgar Varèse, and the Paul Winter Consort.



Bill's compositions for solo and ensemble percussion are published by HoneyRock Publishing and Marimba Productions, Inc., and distributed worldwide. His works for NEXUS and symphony orchestra have been widely performed, and he has produced a number of compact discs, including two with NEXUS and Orchestra - Bill Moyers Narrates the Story of Percussion In the Orchestra (1992), and Voices (1994) - and one, The Solo Percussionist (1996), containing his own compositions performed by six of the finest percussion artists in the world. His arrangements of xylophone solos from the 1920s era of 'novelty ragtime' - arranged for marimba ensemble, with band and orchestra accompaniments - are also widely performed.



His articles and essays on music and percussion have been published in music periodicals and he has authored three books on music subjects. His research into the history of the xylophone has led to the publication of his 280-page discography, The Xylophone In Acoustic Recordings, 1877-1929 .



In 1985 Bill wrote and produced a classical music video entitled March to the Scaffold featuring the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. The six-minute video has been seen on public television in the U.S. and Australia, and it was featured on a CBS News Sunday Morning national broadcast.



Bill has written and conducted pops and educational programs for symphony orchestras and he has created programs featuring percussion for public schools. He is active in presenting lectures and workshops on the subjects of careers in music, the business of music, and percussion performance. He has served as panelist for the American Symphony Orchestra League and as the artist faculty member in percussion at the A.S.O.L. National Youth Orchestra Festival, and the Banff Centre for the Arts. He is an artist in residence (1998-present) at Showa University of Music in Atsugi, Japan.



In 1988 he received the Rochester Philharmonic League Fanfare AwarD for his "significant contribution to music education in the Rochester community." In 1993 he and his wife, Ruth, were named Musicians Of The Year by the Rochester Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon. With Nexus, he received the 1989 Toronto Arts Award in music, the 1997 Banff Centre For The Arts National Award , and in November 1999 induction into the Percussive Arts Society's Hall Of Fame.