In May, 2023, William Appling Singers & Orchestra, Inc. determined to dissolve after forty-three years. William Appling's legacy will continue with this website, his Wikipedia and Facebook pages, the many recordings on which he conducted or performed, and the thousands of musicians, students, colleagues and friends he knew and worked during his life. For any questions or information related to William Appling or William Appling Singers & Orchestra, please contact:
info@williamappling.org / 201-854-7483
Here is the letter released on May 11, 2023, by the Board of William Appling Singers & Orchestra on the dissolution of WASO:
Dear Friends,
We are writing to let you know that the Board of William Appling Singers & Orchestra Inc. (WASO) has determined to dissolve and to use its remaining funds to establish The William Appling Chamber Music Fund at The Music Settlement (TMS) in Cleveland, Ohio.
As many of you know, following William Appling's death in August, 2008, WASO remained very active, honoring Mr. Appling with two major events in New York City: "Celebrating William Appling" on June 21, 2009, at The Riverside Church, and "A Tribute to William Appling" on June 29, 2013, at The Church of the Holy Apostles. Both of these events involved performances by and tributes to Mr. Appling from students, friends and colleagues who had studied and worked with him over the course of his remarkable 50-plus year career. WASO also dedicated itself to the completion of Mr. Appling's final project, the recording of the complete piano works of Scott Joplin, and on April 1, 2017, his 4-CD Joplin set was released on the WASO label. The recording received widespread acclaim and, along with the nine other albums on which he appeared as either conductor or pianist, will be forever part of William Appling's brilliant musical legacy as a teacher, conductor, pianist and arranger. https://www.williamappling.org/waso-recordings
Having completed the Scott Joplin project, the WASO Board decided that the best use of its remaining funds would be to establish a fund to honor and further William Appling’s lifelong dedication to student musicians. The funds donated by WASO to TMS will establish The William Appling Chamber Music Fund at TMS, which will provide scholarships as well as support recruitment and outreach efforts for TMS’s Chamber Music Intensive program under the direction of the renowned Cavani String Quartet. Establishing The William Appling Chamber Music Fund will ensure that William Appling’s legacy will be passed down to future generations of musicians. The donation to TMS is particularly appropriate since Annie Fullard, a founding member of the Cavani String Quartet, was a student at Summer Music Experience, the summer music program William Appling established. We hope you will consider supporting this worthy project to help continue William Appling’s legacy. Donations may be made online to https://www.themusicsettlement.org/donate with a note in the comments section that the donation is for The William Appling Chamber Music Fund, or by mailing a check to The Music Settlement, Attn: Advancement 11125 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland, OH 44106 with a notation that it is for The William Appling Chamber Music Fund.
WASO's Board is truly grateful for the extraordinary support it has received from WASO Friends since William Appling Singers & Orchestra was founded in 1979 in Cleveland, and while our work as an organization is now complete, we are gratified that William Appling's work and influence will live on through The William Appling Chamber Music Fund at TMS, the William Appling website, the William Appling Facebook page, the William Appling Wikipedia page and the many videos and recordings available on YouTube, Spotify and other sites.
It was a profound honor to work with William Appling and help bring his prodigious gifts as a musician to an ever wider audience, and you have our deepest gratitude for the support and love you have given over these many years.
Sincerely,
Board of William Appling Singers & Orchestra
Rick Pogue, President
Debra Lew Harder
Glenna Hazeltine
Cecily Maguire
Diane Marazzi
William McClelland
Janet Wolfe