William Pickerill

William Pickerill (1892-1955) Musician, composer, conductor

Biography

William Joseph Pickerill was born on 6 March 1892 in Nottingham. He was educated at the Roman Catholic cathedral of St Barnabas where his father was Director of Music. At eight, he became a member of the Cathedral choir and received a wide music education. ence for conducting. Pickerill furthered his studies at the Royal Manchester College of Music. After the completion of his studies, he joined various orchestras as a bassoonist: the Castellano Italian Opera Company, the Bath Municipal Orchestra, the D’Oyly-Carte Opera Company (famous for their performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operas at the Savoy Theatre), and the Hallé Orchestra.

In January 1914, Pickerill became a founder member of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra with his appointment as first bassoonist by the Cape Town City Council.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Together with John Connell and Alessandro Rota, William Pickerill founded the National Opera Company in 1940.

As conductor

William Pickerill conducted several operas alongside producer, Guiseppe Paganelli.

He conducted Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers as well as The Mikado for the Durban Municipal Choral and Light Opera Society.

As composer

Pickerill also composed the music for several musicals, including The Mill of Youth (libretto by Archibald J.A. Wilson and Walter Swanson) and Oh, Boy! (again written by Archibald J.A. Wilson). He also composed incidental music for the plays, The Maker of Dreams and Prunella.

Sources

Hilde Roos. 2012. 'Indigenisation and history: how opera in South Africa became South African opera'. Acta Academica Supplementum. 2012(1).

Sjoerd Alkema. 2012. "Conductors of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra, 1914-1965: a historical perspective". University of Cape Town. Unpublished PhD thesis.

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