William Marsey (b1989) is a composer whose music explores memory and identity, shaping a modern voice through engagement with tradition. His work has been described as ‘delicate and intricate’ (The Telegraph), and ‘distinctive, and strangely touching’ (The Times), balancing ‘great contrapuntal complexity and interest’ with ‘emotion and expressiveness’ (The Arts Desk).

Born in Hartlepool, County Durham, William Marsey studied composition at the University of Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Marsey’s body of work spans orchestral, chamber and vocal pieces, as well as interdisciplinary collaborations and music for film. His orchestral works include: Man with limp wrist (2023), commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and premiered by the Hallé, the Ivors Classical Award-nominated Why do you grieve (2022), and The Sea (2019) for the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Lars Vogt. His piano pieces, including the British Composer Award-nominated Belmont Chill from Dutch Indoor subjects, have been played around the UK, USA and Canada by pianists including Joseph Havlat, George Fu, Richard Uttley, Katherine Chi and Thomas Adès.

He has worked with conductors and soloists including Oliver Knussen, Lawrence Power, Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux and Liam Byrne. His interdisciplinary projects span multiple art forms, including work with choreographer Hofesh Shechter, filmmaker Antonia Luxem and photographer Torbjørn Rødland. Recently, he orchestrated for the A24 film Babygirl, and his music for Anna Ridler’s video installation Circadian Nocturne (2023) has been exhibited in Times Square New York, Noor Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) and LLUM Barcelona (Spain).

William Marsey has released two albums of his own work, Dutch Indoor Subjects and The Patronages. His Be nice to see you, featuring recordings of his parents’ voices—‘an intriguing yet strange work, and somewhat disturbing’ (Planet Hugill)—can be found on the Solem Quartet’s The Four Quarters album, alongside music by Thomas Adès, Florence Price and Cassandra Miller.

His orchestral piece Why do you grieve was released on Live at the Science Museum on the Platoon label in 2023, and his ‘hypnotic and unmoved’ (BBC Music Magazine) setting of words from the 2014 Immigration Bill, Removal and Other Powers, was featured on the song album Our Indifferent Century valongside works by Joanna Ward, Gerald Finzi and Benjamin Britten.