My music is generous, eclectic and maximal. I prefer chaotic variety to boring unity. I like lively rhythm and ecstatic beauty. This is how William Albright (1944-1998), one of the most idiosyncratic artistic personalities of the recent American music scene, sums up his musical aesthetic. Born in Gary, Indiana, in 1944, he received his early training at Juilliard and the Eastman School of Music. He studied composition with Olivier Messiaen and others at the Paris Conservatory. As a piano and organ virtuoso, he toured America and Europe and became known to a wide audience: not only with the classical repertoire, but also as an enthusiastic interpreter of ragtime. His extensive oeuvre encompasses virtually all genres from orchestral to solo literature, with the organ playing a central role.