William John Summers

Associate Professor of Music, Emeritus

William John Summers joined the faculty of music in 1984. His extensive publication record as a historical musicologist consists of three completed books and more than seventy articles and book reviews that have appeared in fifteen refereed music periodicals. In 2009, his book, Juan Sancho, Pioneering Composer of California, received the prestigious Norman Neurerburg Award from the Historical Society of Southern California for excellence in writing on the early history of California. In both English and Spanish, he has delivered research seminars and short courses and presented research papers on five continents. Dr. Summers has advised a record ten Dartmouth Senior Fellows in music, and his advisees have received Fulbright, DAAD and Reynolds Scholarships for graduate study in Germany, England, France, the Philippines, and the U.S. A number of these former students are today pursuing professional careers in music as conductors, instrumentalists and singers.

Contact

William.J.Summers@dartmouth.edu
603-643-1548

Education

  • B.A. San Luis Rey College
  • M.A. California State University
  • Ph.D. University of California at Santa Barbara

Selected Publications

  • "Before Their Music Stopped: Manila's Spanish Military Regimental Bands at the End of the 19th Century" in Diagonal, an Ibero-American Music Review, vol. 6, Issue 2, pp. 66-118, 2021.

  • William J. Summers and Peter M. Lefferts, English Thirteenth-Century Polyphony: A Facsimile Edition, Early English Church Music 57. London: Stainer and Bell, for the British Academy, 2016. vi + 54 pp. + 347 color plates. ISBN 978 0 85249 940 5.