William Rogers Chapman

William Rogers Chapman (August 4, 1855 – March 27, 1935) was an American conductor, organist, pianist, composer, and music educator. He is best known as the founding director of two choruses in New York City (the men's chorus Musurgia Society and the women's chorus the Rubinstein Club), and for establishing the Maine Music Festival.

Early life and education William Rogers Chapman was born August 4, 1855, in Hanover, Massachusetts. He was named after his father, the Reverend William Rogers Chapman, who died not long after his birth on October 25, 1855, at the age of 43. Chapman was christened on top of his father's coffin when he was three months old. He grew up in Bethel, Maine, where he was raised by his mother, Emily Irene Bishop Chapman. He was educated at Gould Academy in Bethel.

In 1868 William's mother married a second time, to William Jacob Valentine, a New York banker, and the family moved to Fordham, New York. Soon after William was sent to a school in New York City operated by the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church with the aim of being trained as a minister. At the age of 14 he was sticken with sudden blindness and spent a year recuperating with bandaged eyes in a darkened room. During this time he began playing a piano in the room he was sequestered in, and developed a noticeable gift. His path was subsequently re-oriented toward music, and he began piano studies in New York with Sebastian Bach Mills. Other music teachers he studied under in New York City included William Mason (chamber music), George F. Bristow (harmony), and Henry Stephen Cutler (organ).

Chapman subsequently studied piano with Charles Fradel at the American Conservatory of Music (ACM) where he initially enrolled in 1872. His sister Minnie was also trained as a pianist at that conservatory, and had begun her studies there in 1871. In the summer of 1875 he was sent to Europe by his family for further training in Leipzig and Berlin. He traveled by ship first to England where he met with George Alexander Macfarren who advised him that he could progress as a musician just as easily in the United States as in Europe. During his visit to Germany he performed for Franz Liszt In June 1926 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Maine. In his later life he was a friend of American entertainer Will Rogers. In December 1933 ill health forced him to abandon his conducting responsibilities. He led the RC one final time on February 20, 1934, in a performance with soprano Rosemarie Brancato. It was his final concert.

Chapman died in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 27, 1935, at the age of 79.