Bill Gordh is a storyteller, banjoist, songwriter, author and educator. His credits include a NY Philharmonic commission with composer Jon Deak to create a new work for the Philharmonic’s Young People’s Concerts. “Roaring Mountain” debuted with the orchestra in April 2005. It introduced“Instrument Village”, a locale in the Land of Sound where all the instruments of the orchestra live. They do everything - walk, talk, build, play and go on adventures with their sounds. This notion has been part of Jon’s and Bill’s work ever since with Jon composing for another half dozen or so Instrument Village stories and then incorporated in work with Deak’s world renowned Very Young Composers work.

As librettist and storyteller/narrator Bill has also collaborated with NY Philharmonic’s principal cellist Carter Brey, as well as composers Richard Carrick and Victoria Bond. His work with story and music has led to the World Music Institute’s Folktale Podcast for which Bill is the host. For each podcast he retells a folktale from the culture of the guest musician who accompanies the story. This has included Grammy winning percussionist Cyro Baptista (Brazil), the Colombian harpist Edmar Castaneda and the Finnish quartet Kardemimmit.

Bill has performed at the Clearwater Festival, the TribecaFilm Festival Family Day, the Ford Amphitheater (Vail, CO), the ByzantineFresco Museum (Houston, TX) and many other venues and for three years was a featured storyteller at the White House Easter Egg Roll. His books include Stories in Action, Building a Children’s Chapel and Wanna Ride. They have sold over 250,000 copies. Bill’s YouTube channel is home to over 250 tales told by Bill with his banjo.

‍