Composer William Wade Dies At 54; Memorial Concert Set For 6/3

William Wade, composer, lyricist, orchestrator, musical director, arranger and pianist, passed away following a short battle with colon cancer on February 26, 2018 at the age of 54. Wade is perhaps best known for writing the score for John Tartaglia's Imaginocean, which had an eighteen month run off-Broadway at New World Stages and an extensive international tour.

A Celebration of the Life and Artistry of William Wade, a memorial concert, will take place on June 3, 2018 at 2pm at the Duffy Performance Space at Mark Morris Dance Center in Brooklyn. The event will also be streamed live via Facebook through the William Wade Memorial page.

Other works by Wade include Alice (book by Frank Blocker), Warsaw (book by John Atkins), and Wounded Knee. His ballets include Madeline (Symphony Space, NYC), Mole Music, and Snow White.

As an arranger, William has worked for Rosie's Theatre Kids (the youth group founded by Rosie O'Donnell), Broadway Theatre Project (with Ann Reinking), Mark Morris Dance Group, and National Dance Institute. He was the arranger and musical director for Yeast Nation, the hit musical of the 2014 New York International Fringe Festival by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis (Urinetown).

As a teacher and accompanist, William has worked for Broadway Classroom, AMDA, Professional Musical Theatre Workshop at Manhattan School of Music, American Ballet Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Juilliard, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake on Broadway, University of Washington, Alvin Ailey, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, Steps, and many choreographers, including Karole Armitage, Donald Byrd, Jennifer Muller, Mark Morris, among many others.