Composer, arranger, performer, and painter William Hoshal draws influence from the musical worlds he inhabits, including jazz, classical, ambient, and commercial. Originally trained on saxophone and woodwinds, his award-winning music has been featured in jazz festivals and on the concert stage both here and abroad.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, William’s musical roots began in the rich Portland, Oregon music scene and took him to the jazz and commercial worlds of the east coast. He relocated to the desert southwest where a lifelong fascination with indigenous music of all kinds and an interest to connect with his own distant heritage ultimately led him to add the Native American flute and various world flutes to his musical lexicon. Influenced by jazz legends John Coltrane, Michael Brecker and Joe Henderson, as well as Native American musicians like Jim Pepper, Robert Tree Cody, and Kevin Locke, he began incorporating the traditions of the native flute into the harmonic and rhythmic structures of jazz and contemporary classical music.
As a jazz and commercial musician, he has performed with artists like Pat Metheny, The Brecker Brothers, Clark Terry, James Moody, Bob Mintzer, Michito Sanchez, Maureen McGovern, Hans Zimmer, Celine Dion, and Lou Rawls. William was also a staff musician/orchestrator/composer for the Walt Disney Company for over a decade.
While still in-demand as a composer, orchestrator and producer, as well as jazz and session musician, William has set about focusing on the future of the Native American flute. In 2007, William was selected as one of the Rising Stars at the Zion Flute Festival. He has been a featured performer at the Pacific Northwest Flute Quest, Oklahoma Flute Festival, and Yosemite Flute Festival. In 2008, William teamed with talented musician Vince Chafin at the Zion Flute Festival to create a new group that has become one of the “most exciting additions to the festival and concert circuit.”
In 2009, William joined forces with noted world flutist and educator Gary Stroutsos to create Winds of Honor Music. Their mission is to create and promote cultural awareness through concerts, recordings, children’s programs, workshop presentations and lecture tours.
His solo debut CD, A RUMOR OF THE SUN, a musical collage of settings focusing on the haunting voice of the Native American Flute was nominated for an Independent Music Award and has received rave reviews from such publications as Whispering Wind and New Age Retailer. His compositions and improvisational explorations on this beautiful instrument have been called “Masterful…energetic, soulful, and moving” and “wonderfully spirited.” In 2008, A RUMOR OF THE SUN rose to #8 on the New Age chart and was honored with a Native American Music Award nomination.
William has also co-produced a new release of ECHOES OF CANYON DE CHELLY for Gary Stroutsos and Paul Thompson; WITHIN YOU, WITHOUT YOU for Gary Stroutsos and White Swan Records; DOORWAY TO A DREAM for Ann Licater; and two new solo CD projects including THE LANGUAGE OF CLOUDS, the highly anticipated follow-up to A RUMOR OF THE SUN.
2010 saw the beginning of a new phase of creative endeavors for William with the opening of Calling Rain Studios; a working art studio and gallery at the Old Jerome High School in the historic mining town of Jerome, Arizona. Working in oils and acrylics, William frequently mixes the visual and musical in contemplative contemporary landscapes and classical still-life. His work appears in galleries and private collections around the country.