Dr. William Schimmel is the accordionist on the soundtrack album of “An American in Paris” which has just been nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award.

An American in Paris is the romantic story of a young American soldier, a beautiful French girl and an indomitable European city are at the heart of Broadway’s breathtakingly beautiful new musical, An American in Paris, the four-time Tony Award®-winning production that also earned the awards for Best Musical of the Year from both the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League.

Tony Award winner Christopher Wheeldon directs and choreographs a remarkable company of 25 international and Broadway virtuosos as they bring the magic and romance of Paris into perfect harmony with Tony Award®-winning orchestrations of unforgettable works by George and Ira Gershwin, including such classics as “I’ll Build A Stairway to Paradise,” “I Got Rhythm” and “The Man I Love.”

The show is now taking place at The Palace Theatre, 1564 Broadway, New York, New York.

William Schimmel is a virtuoso accordionist, author, philosopher and composer. He is one of the principle architects in the tango revival in America, the resurgence of the accordion and the philosophy of Musical Reality (composition with pre-existing music). He received his diploma from the Neupauer Conservatory of Music and his BM, MS and DMA degrees from the Juilliard School.

He has taught at the Juilliard School , Brooklyn College CUNY, Upsala College, New School University, Neupauer Conservatory (dean) and has lectured on accordion related subjects at Princeton , Columbia , Brandeis, University of Missouri , Duke University, Manhattan School of Music, the Graduate Center CUNY, Santa Clara University, The Janacek Conservatory in Ostrava, Czech Republic and at Microsoft.

Bill has performed with virtually every major symphony orchestra in America (and the Kirov ) including a longstanding relationship with the Minnesota Orchestra, as well as virtually every chamber music group in New York including Ensemble Sospeso and the Odeon Jazz Ensemble. Pop star colleagues range from Sting to Tom Waits, who has made the legendary statement: “Bill Schimmel doesn’t play the accordion, he is the accordion”.

He is founder of the Tango Project, which, in addition to his hit recordings with them, has appeared with Al Pacino in the film: “Scent of a Woman”, for which Pacino won an Oscar. The Tango Project also won the Stereo Review Album of the Year Award, received a Grammy nomination and rose to number I on the Billboard Classical Charts. He can be heard in other films including True Lies, Kun Dun and many others including films that he both scored and performed and a series of films for the Nature Conservancy which have won numerous prizes in documentary categories.

He is an authority of the music of Kurt Weill, having recorded all of Weill’s music that employs the accordion.

He is a prolific composer with many commissions from concert music to Broadway and off-Broadway. He has written countless accordion pieces for himself and others including a test piece for the Coupe Mondiale, the accordions’ most prestigious world competition. His “Portrait No I “for orchestra was conducted by the late Leopold Stockowski.

Dr. Schimmel’s theatre works in collaboration with Micki Goodman have made accordion history.He now heads the Neupauer Conservatory Order of the Shield program, a private studies program for gifted students on a graduate and post graduate level. he conducts a successful three day master class and concert series sponsored by the American Accordionists’ Association (where he is distinguished lecturer in residence) moving into its 20th season.

The Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA) have awarded Dr. Schimmel the distinguished Merit Award for the AAA Master Class and Concert Series as well as his contribution to the international accordion scene.

He received the American Accordionists’ Association Distinguished Service Award for Fifty Years of Accordion activity and his work as Lecturer in Residence. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Great Minds of the 21st Century.

For more info: billschimmel@billschimmel.com