thumb|William Schimmel Buffalo, NY|375x375px
William Schimmel (born 1946) is an American musician and composer, who plays the accordion and is a promoter of the philosophy of "Musical Reality" (composition with pre-existing music).
Awards
He received a Composers' Citation from The American Accordionists' Association in honor of his composition, "The Spring Street Ritual", which was the test piece for the 1979 Coupe Mondiale World Competition. He received The Confédération internationale des accordéonistes Merit Award for his contributions as a composer, performer and philosopher on the international accordion scene.
Academic work
Schimmel conducts a yearly three-day Master Class and Concert Series (The Seminars) sponsored by the American Accordionists' Association, now sponsored by The Accordion Global Association, dedicated to the exploration and establishment of an accordion culture, which is in its thirty first season. He recently curated a six day accordion event, Accordion Mixology, at Lincoln Center in celebration on the acquisition of his archives. This was followed by Not Entirely Schubert, a Concert with his Associates, What's Tango about the Classics and the upcoming,Improving on Berlioz. He has served on the faculties of numerous colleges including The Juilliard School, Brooklyn College CUNY, Dean of Neupauer Conservatory, New York University, New School University and many others.
He is known as an authority of the music of Kurt Weill and has recorded all of Weill's music which includes the accordion.