William Motzing

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William Motzing was an American composer, conductor, arranger and trombonist who became a major figure in Australia’s music scene. He is best known for his film and TV scores and for arranging pop music in Australia, and he served as the Director of Jazz Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for about 40 years.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1937, Motzing studied at the Eastman School of Music (BA, 1959) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM, 1960). He played trombone with the Eastman Rochester Philharmonic and was the youngest member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1960. He performed with several prominent jazz groups and toured with Blood, Sweat & Tears as a sound designer from 1968 to 1971. After visiting Australia in 1971, he moved there in 1972 to teach and work in film and television.

In Australia, Motzing arranged and conducted for many hit records, including Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home,” Billy Field’s “Bad Habits,” Sherbet’s “Howzat,” INXS’s “The Swing,” and albums for Air Supply and Billy Thorpe. He also wrote and supervised scores for more than 30 film and TV projects, such as Newsfront, Young Einstein (which earned AFI and APRA awards), The Return of Captain Invincible, and The Quiet American (2002). He conducted major orchestras in Australia and Europe and mentored students like Jon Rose and Nigel Westlake. A proponent of the Schillinger System, he remained active in teaching until his retirement in 2011, after which he returned to New York. He died in 2014 at the age of 76.