Dr. William Wellborn

Pianist, educator, lecturer, arts leader, tour organizer, collector, devoted son and loyal friend, Dr. William Wellborn passed away at UCSF Parnassus Hospital on Saturday, October 28, 2023, after a long and heroic battle against cancer.

Born on February 2, 1956 in San Antonio, Texas, the only child of Patsy and Gene Wellborn, Bill began his piano studies at age 11, adding oboe and flute in high school and college. In college, he eventually decided to focus on piano, going on to earn Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Texas at Austin and the New England Conservatory of Music. He performed solo, chamber and orchestral recitals and concerts, at festivals, conventions, masterclasses, and other venues across the US and Europe. He was frequently called upon as a masterclass teacher, guest artist, convention artist, and competition adjudicator, and recorded two CD albums. In San Francisco, he was a fixture of the Old First Concerts at Old First Church and Noontime Concert series at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral.

Though an acclaimed and sought-after performer, Bill’s true passion lay in teaching. Bill taught piano at the University of Idaho, Moscow, and Humboldt State University in California before joining the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in Fall of 1989, where he taught for the next 34 years until his passing. As a member of the Conservatory’s Pre-College/Continuing Education Division, he became one of the Bay Area’s leading teachers of talented young players. He also joined the Collegiate division as a professor of piano pedagogy, sharing his wealth of teaching experience and wisdom with scores of future professional pianists. Bill’s energy was not only devoted to his young students, however. He also taught many adult students, both privately, and through the SF Conservatory’s Continuing Education program, as well as at the Idyllwild Arts Academy Summer Workshop for adult students.

Under his care, his students have won numerous local and national competitions, and performed in concerts, festivals, masterclasses and other venues across the world. Many have gone on to professional music careers. In 2017 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Association of Professional Music Teachers (CAPMT). Beyond all of this, Bill’s greatest talent as a teacher was his ability to forge a deep, personal, and lasting bond with each student, bonds which continually brought former students back to visit, take lessons, and become friends beyond the lesson hour.

A devotee of both Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin, Bill was on the national board of the American Liszt Society and was the founding president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the American Liszt Society; he also served as Vice-President for the San Francisco Council of the Chopin Foundation. His annual “Young Pianists Play Liszt” concerts were just one way he combined his musical passions with his teaching. A lifelong and avid record collector and devotee of the great pianists, opera divas and divos, and other notable figures musical history, Bill brought his encyclopedic knowledge to bear as a lecturer for the Road Scholars, as co-organizer and leader, with his friend and colleague Prof. Adam Wibrowski, of European musical history summer tours, and as host of his own radio show, “Piano Legacy” on KQED from 1995-1997.

Throughout a multifarious and distinguished musical career, Bill touched countless lives, inspiring dozens of close and lasting professional and personal friendships. An extraordinarily open, warm, and generous spirit, Bill could find an instant connection with just about anyone. With his friends and colleagues, he shared his love of music, records, classic cinema, good food, good wine, champagne and chocolate. Always ready with a perfectly timed Joan Crawford or Bette Davis line, an uproarious or passionate rant/lecture on most any topic within his expertise, or a deeply profound musical insight, Bill was charming, witty, intelligent, ribald, great-hearted, wise, passionate, loyal, and above all, great fun to be with.

Bill is survived by his mother Patsy, cousin Linelle and her husband James, the legacy of countless students, colleagues, and friends whose lives he changed forever, and all the beauty he added to the world. We will all miss you, Bill.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.sanfranciscocolumbarium.com for the Wellborn family.