Biography

William Peters Latham was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, January 4th, 1917.

He was educated in Kentucky, Ohio and New York, completing degrees in composition and theory at the Cincinnati College of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. Later, he was awarded a Ph.D. in composition at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York (1951). His principal composition teachers were Eugene Goossens and Howard Hanson.

Latham taught theory and composition at the University of Northern Iowa from 1946 to 1965, attaining the rank of Professor of Music in 1959. In 1965 he joined the faculty of the College of Music at the University of North Texas as Professor of Music and Coordinator of Composition. He was appointed Director of Graduate Studies in Music in 1969. In 1978 he was promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music, the University's highest rank. Only seven other faculty members of the University had been so honored at that time. He retired from active service at UNT in June, 1984, and he was formally designated Professor Emeritus by the Board of Regents in November, 1984.

Dr. Latham has composed 118 works; 62  have been published, 56 remain in manuscript, but all have been performed; many throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. He has received numerous awards and commissions (29). His orchestral works have been performed by the Cincinnati Symphony, the Eastman-Rochester Philharmonic, the Dallas Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, and Radio Orchestras in Brussels, Belgium and Hilversum, Holland, under such well known conductors as Eugene Goossens, Howard Hanson, Thor Johnson, Anshel Brusilow, John Giordano, and Walter Susskind.

Dr. Latham died in Denton, Texas on February 24, 2004.  Memorials may be made to: 

William P. Latham Composition Fund
UNT College of Music
Attn: Elida Tamez
P.O. Box 311367
Denton TX 76203
Info: (940) 565-2243

or

William P. Latham Music Fund
St. David's Episcopal Church
623 Ector St.
Denton, TX 76201
Info: (940) 387-2622

Latham's family can also be contacted at CharmWay@aol.com