William O’Meara—Accompanist

Formerly the cathedral organist of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto and accompanist to the acclaimed choirs of St. Michael’s Choir School, William O’Meara is a gifted keyboardist who is much in demand as a soloist and accompanist.

As a concert organist, he has performed throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, South America, and Russia and has broadcast on radio and television in North America and Europe. His many solo engagements include performances at St. Paul’s Cathedral (London, UK), the Toronto International Bach Festival, Trnava Organ Days (Slovakia), Warsaw International Festival of Organ Music (Poland), Turin International Organ Festival (Italy), Sao Bento International Organ Festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Harvard University Organ Society (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Perm Organ Festival (Russia), Fédération québécoise des amis de l’orgue (Québec), Jack Singer Hall (Calgary), Roy Thomson Hall (Toronto), and the International Congress of Organists (Montreal). From 1990 to 2003 he toured North America with the Laughton & O’Meara trumpet and organ duo.

O’Meara has commissioned and premiered many compositions by composers in Canada and around the world. In 2006 he performed with RIAS Kammerchor in a concert honouring the 75th birthday of Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina, with the composer in attendance. The same year he gave the world premiere in Toronto of Paul Frehner’s Lila for two orchestras and organ with Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal and Norway’s BIT20 orchestra. In 2012, O’Meara premiered and recorded a new organ concerto, Cathedral Architecture, dedicated to him by the composer, John Burge.

His interest in improvisation led him to study silent films and their musical accompaniment. He has accompanied over 300 silent films for renowned film festivals in Canada and around the world, including TIFF Cinematheque (formerly Cinematheque Ontario), the year-round programming arm of the Toronto International Film Festival.

O’Meara is also the co-founder of ORGANIX (www.organixconcerts.ca), a series of concerts held every May throughout Toronto, featuring the finest pipe organs in the city.