M. WILLIAM KARLINS was born in New York City on February 25, 1932. He earned his B.M. and M.M. from the Manhattan School of Music and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1965. Among his principal teachers were Frederick Piket, Stefan Wolpe, and Vittorio Giannini. He was the Harry N. and Ruth F. Wyatt Professor of Music Theory and Composition Emeritus at Northwestern University, where he was on the faculty from 1967 until his death in 2005.

Karlins was commissioned by the Chicago Symphony, and many other ensembles and prominent soloists. In 1991 he was composer-in-residence at the 6éme Stage de Saxophone, which took place during the 7éme Festival Lyrique et Musical de Duras, France, at which time he was honored as "de chevalier du Maréchalat des Cútes de Duras." He was also composer-in-residence at World Saxophone Congresses in London, Bordeaux, Nuremberg, and Washington, DC. In 1995 he was guest composer and lecturer at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, and the Franz Liszt Musical College in Györ, Hungary, and in 1997 he was featured composer in a concert presented by the American Cultural Center in Sofia, Bulgaria, co-sponsored by the Fulbright Commission. In 1999 he was lecturer at the Wiener Hochschule für Musik, and his music was performed at the Budapest Spring Festival. Karlins was honored composer and lecturer at the 3rd Music Research Seminar, in the Escola de Música e Artes Cênicas da Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil, in 2003.

Karlins' music has been recorded on many labels and published by many leading publishers in the USA and Europe.

He was a member of BMI and the American Music Center, the American Composers Alliance, where he served on the National Advisory Board and Board of Governors. He was a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota.

last updated April 14, 2020
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