William Dougherty

Lecturer in Music
Early Career Fellow

William Dougherty was an Early Career Fellow at Columbia University. He taught courses in music composition, music theory, and electronics. Dougherty's compositions have been performed internationally by ensembles including Distractfold Ensemble (Manchester), The Sun Ra Arkestra (Philadelphia), and Talea Ensemble (New York) at festivals such as IRCAM's ManiFeste (2019), musikprotokoll (2018), and Donaueschingen Musiktage (2017). Recipient of the 2021 Luciano Berio Rome Prize in Music Composition from the American Academy in Rome, Dougherty has received recognitions and awards from Gaudeamus Muziekweek, the Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM/ISCM), the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Aaron Copland House, BMI, and the UK Foreign Aid and Commonwealth Office.

Dougherty has contributed feature music programs to WKCR-FM New York and has published articles, reviews, and interviews in Tempo (Cambridge University Press), Music & Literature, and VAN Magazine. He is currently guest co-editing a forthcoming special issue of Contemporary Music Review on the music of Éliane Radigue—the first major English-language journal to focus exclusively on her work. He is also the Editor-in-chief of openwork, a new peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal that publishes research into experimental music, art, and scholarship.

Dougherty graduated with a Bachelor’s in Music Composition from Temple University in Philadelphia. As a Marshall Scholar, William earned his Master’s from the Royal College of Music in London after which he completed supplementary studies at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. In 2018-19, William completed the Cursus Programme in computer music at IRCAM in Paris while in residence at Cité Internationale des Arts. He earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Columbia University in 2021.

For more information, please visit: www.williamdougherty.com

Columbia Degrees: 
DMA, Composition
2021
Degrees from Other Institutions: 
MMus
with distinction
Music Composition
The Royal College of Music
2012
BM
summa cum laude
Music Composition
Temple University
2010