Will Rothermel
Born and raised in Ocean City, Maryland, Will Rothermel is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer. Advocacy through music and art has been a driving force in his work. Will holds a BA in Music from the Pennsylvania State University where he diligently studied Percussion Performance and Music Technology.
Will is currently pursuing a MA in Audio Technology at the American University in Washington, DC. There he is focusing on scoring for visual media, sound design, and audio programming.
During his time at Penn State, Will was involved in numerous ensembles as a percussionist, including the PSU Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Percussion and Mallet Ensembles, and the Penn State Thespian Society. Will studied percussion under Daniel C. Armstrong and Dr. Gifford Howarth, music technology and composition under Dr. Mark Ballora and Dr. Alex Heppelmann, and musicianship under Dr. Charles Youmans.
As a composer at Penn State, Will’s work consisted of audio synthesis, tape manipulation, and electronic music production. He premiered and performed his live tape destruction piece, Music for Tape and Reverb Pedal, as his BA Final Recital. Will’s work has also premiered on the silver screen; In 2018, he co-scored the Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy Award-nominated film, Intrusion. Aside from his undergraduate studies, Will was an Electronics Workshop Fellow at the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) at the New England Conservatory of Music. During this time, he composed and performed an eight-hour sound art installation entitled, Obsolete Modernisms. Most recently, he completed a Music Production intensive curriculum through Julliard with acclaimed composer, Elliot Cole.