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William (Bill) MacSems was born in New York City, N.Y. in 1930. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1959 from California State University, Los Angeles and his Master of Arts Degree in Music Composition from California State University at San Francisco in 1967. It was there that he was a student of Roger Nixon. In 1970-71, he took a sabbatical leave from his teaching position to study with Gottfried von Einem at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. MacSems was commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce of Nevada City, California to write the music for a musical show in celebration of the California Bicentennial. He was honored as a composer by the San Mateo County (CA) Choral Society at a concert featuring his composition, "The Key." The San Mateo Art Commission presented him with a grant to supplement production costs of his opera, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." In 1995, he received another commission by the Townsend Opera in Modesto, California to compose a tribute to the Great Central Valley of California. He founded and directed a community chorus and musical theater. He was conductor of the Glen Rock, N.J. Community Orchestra, guest conductor of the Coastside Community Orchestra in Half Moon Bay, CA, conductor and guest conductor of the Nevada County Concert Band, Nevada City and Grass Valley, CA. His music has been performed in Vienna, Austria; Penzance, Wales; in and around San Francisco, Cleveland, Ohio and Sacramento CA. Mr. MacSems taught music in the public schools of California and New Jersey from 1959 to 1998.