Meet William Peltz-Smalley, Violin
William Peltz-Smalley, Bio:
Originally from Albany, New York, William Peltz Smalley has been based in Montréal since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Boston University, where he studied with Bayla Keyes, and completed his Master of Music at McGill University with Catherine Cosbey.
A versatile solo, chamber, and orchestral musician, Will has performed internationally with a variety of ensembles and repertoire. While at BU, he received the String Department's Undergraduate Prize in the Solo Bach Competition for his performance of the Sonata No. 3 in C Major, and earned praise from violinist and composer Gregory Walker for his performance of George Walker's "Bleu" for Unaccompanied Violin. Since arriving in Montréal, he has been a member of the orchestra and a soloist with the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble and the McGill Baroque Orchestra.
An enthusiastic interpreter of contemporary music, Will has twice attended the Lucerne Festival Academy in Switzerland, and his final Master's recital at McGill was composed entirely of modern and contemporary works for "violin and": piano, electronics, narration, and more.
William Peltz-Smalley, Q&A:
GFS: When did you first start playing your musical instrument?
WPS: When I was four years old, I was watching TV with my grandmother, and a children's program was showing a young boy playing the violin. I pointed and said, "That’s what I wanna do!" My grandmother, a classically trained singer, was thrilled to see me interested in the violin. For several years, my grandparents were the ones who drove me to violin lessons, and she would sit and take notes on what to listen for in my practice. She would holler from the other room if I was playing things too fast—I still hear her in my head saying "William, play it slower!" if I'm skipping steps in my practice, trying to play something up to tempo too early.
GFS: Tell us about what you most love to do outside of your career as a musician?
WPS: I like spending time outside in all seasons, and messing with various mechanical and technological things: working on my bike, fixing things around the house, dabbling in electronic music production and video. If I hadn't gone to school for music, I probably would have chosen film or computer science.
GFS: What music are you listening to right now?
WPS: Since moving to Montreal, I've gotten into the music of the Quebec folk group Le Vent du Nord, and also recently stumbled across (literally—I was walking through the park and they were playing in the amphitheater) a local group called Gairloch playing some great Celtic tunes. It makes me want to get more into fiddling—I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to get into baroque violin a bit recently, and fiddle techniques seem like another fascinating path to go down.
Moving more towards electronic music, I've been a fan of Bad Snacks for a while and am still listening to her music frequently. She started out combining lush synthesizer textures with an instrumental hip-hop style and a mix of acoustic and electrified violin, and has recently been getting more into house and dance styles. Fully on the electronic side, I've been enjoying some of Orbital and Underworld's recent releases and reworks: Orbital released a rework their old track "Deeper" a few months ago as "Deepest" with Tilda Swinton narrating, which is fantastic. Underworld's recent "Denver Luna" ends with a beautiful vocoder-assisted chorale, of which they also released an a cappella version. And I'm always listening to Kraftwerk—I was lucky enough to see them on their most recent tour when they stopped in Montreal. Hearing "Autobahn" as a kid was one of the things that got me really interested in a wide variety of sound worlds in music, through the possibilities that electroacoustic music represents, kind of priming me to more deeply appreciate orchestration and the colors that composers bring out in classical instrumental music as well.
GFS: What are you most looking forward to in the Glens Falls Symphony 2025-26 Season?
WPS: I'm a big fan of Prokofiev and the magic he weaves with accessible melodies and just the most fascinating harmonic moves, so I'm excited for my first concert cycle with the GFS to feature some of his vivid Romeo and Juliet orchestration. In general, I really appreciate when orchestras make the effort to perform the classics well, while also exploring newer repertoire, supporting living composers, and maintaining a relationship with the local musical scene. Looking at the upcoming season's program tells me that the GFS takes that seriously, and I'm particularly looking forward to the Celtic Holiday concert with local high school choristers, and the American Portraits concert with the Chris Brubeck premiere and Joan Tower's "Made in America"!
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