William Bares, Ph.D.

Pianist, composer, scholar, and educator William Bares earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Harvard University in 2009. Before joining UNC Asheville, he taught at Harvard, Brown University, Berklee College of Music, and New England Conservatory. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Music and co-director of Jazz Studies at UNC Asheville.

Bares’s research focuses on transatlantic jazz and environmental music. His work has appeared in Jazz Perspectives, Jazz Research Journal, American Music, and other publications. His book, Jazz and the European Dream, is forthcoming from Routledge. He has also directed two major interdisciplinary conferences: Ecomusicologies 2014: Dialogues and, as UNC Asheville’s NEH Distinguished Professor in the Humanities, Post-Helene: Remembering, Rebuilding, Reimagining in 2025.

Bares is also an active performer. After earning his master’s degree in jazz piano performance from the University of Miami in 1999, he spent much of the following decade performing professionally in New York, Boston, and Europe. Since moving to Asheville in 2011, he has become an active member of the region’s musical community. He was the piano soloist for the Blue Ridge Orchestra’s inaugural performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and curated the Sunday Jazz Showcase at Asheville’s celebrated Isis Music Hall. He has released five albums as a leader or co-leader, and his modern jazz ensemble, The Core, was named Best Jazz Group in the Mountain Xpress Best of Western North Carolina awards.

Education

• B.A., Amherst College
• M.M., University of Miami
• Ph.D., Harvard University

Courses Taught

• Jazz History (MUSC 357)
• Music and Environmental Consciousness (MUSC/HON 178)
• African American Music: Slavery to Swing (MUSC 343)
• African American Music: R&B to Hip Hop (MUSC 344)
• Music Experimentalism at UNC Asheville (MUSC 373)
• Transatlantic Jazz (MUSC 373)
• Music Business and Industry I (MUSC 382)
• Harmony and Improvisation II (MUSC 392)
• Styles 1: American Music Styles (MUSC 393)
• Styles 2: Global Music Styles (MUSC 394)
• Senior Capstone (MUSC 411)
• Jazz Band: Big Band (MUSC 122)
• Jazz Band: Saxophone Quintet (MUSC 122)
• Jazz Ensemble: Thelonious Monk (MUSC 129)
• Jazz Ensemble: Eco-Music Ensemble (MUSC 129)
• Jazz Ensemble: Experimental Music Ensemble (MUSC 129)
• Jazz Ensemble: Trio Ensemble (MUSC 129)
• Jazz Ensemble: UNCA Scholarship Quintet (X-Tet) (MUSC 129)
• Applied Music: Piano (MUSC 191-491)

Publications

Books

• Bares W. (contracted) Jazz and the European Dream: the Transatlantic Eternal Triangle, 2001-2008. Routledge Press, Transnational Studies in Jazz Series, Tony Whyton and Nick Gebhardt, eds.
• Bares W.  EcoJazz: Jazz, Race and Nature [in progress].

Peer-Reviewed Publications

• Bares W. (2020). “A Jazz Course for the Information Era.” Jazz Education in Research and Practice, Vol 1, no. 1, Jan 2020.
• Bares W. (2019). “Europe, Western” in the SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. (SAGE Publications, 2019; Janet Sturman, ed.). Pages and article url pending.
• Bares W. (2018). “Review: Erroll Garner: No One Can Hear You Read.” Jazz and Culture [formerly International Jazz Archives Journal] Vol 1, no. 1. Spring 2018.
• Bares W. (2016). “Young German Jazz and the Politics of Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Germany.” Continental Drift: 50 Years of Jazz From Europe. Medbøe, Moir, Atton, eds. Edinburgh, UK. Continental Drift Publishing, July 2016: 1-17.
• Bares W. (2015). “Transatlanticism as Dutch National Spectacle: Universalism and Postpolitics at the North Sea Jazz Festival.” American Music, Volume 33.3, Fall 2015: 345-374.
• Bares, W. (2012). “Way Out East: Cowboys and Pioneer Women on Berlin’s Jazz Frontier.” Jazz Research Journal, Volume 6.2, Nov 2012: 171-201.
• Entries for the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2012-2016):
• Bares, W. (2016). “Joe Zawinul” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 641-2. Article url pending.
• Bares, W. (2013). “Roswell Rudd” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 255. Article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2276429
• Bares, W. (2013). “Brad Mehldau” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 432. Article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2276098
• Bares, W. (2013). “Marcus Roberts” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 157. Article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2276381
• Bares, W. (2013). “Acid Jazz” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 10-11. Article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2226805
• Bares, W. (2013). “Albert Murray” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 608. Article url pending.
• Bares, W. (2013). “Stanley Crouch” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 499-500. Article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2282477
• Bares, W. (2013). “Kevin Whitehead” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 487. Article url pending.
• Bares, W. (2013). “Mike Zwerin” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 662. Article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2263504
• Bares, W. (2013). “Tau Moe Family” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 117. Article url pending.
• Bares, W. (2013). “Hapa” in the Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2013; Charles Hiroshi Garrett, ed.), 41. Article url: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/A2284554
• Bares W. (2011). “Sounds of Silence: The Politics and Poetics of Norwegian Jazz.” American Music Review Volume XLI, No.1, Fall 2011: 9-11; 15.
• Bares W. (2011). “Play Your Own Thing, Play ‘Our’ Thing: ‘Young German Jazz’ und die deutsche Jazzidentität.” Hofheim 2011. Darmstädter Beiträge zur Jazzforschung, Band 11: 156-185.
• Bares W. (2007). “Jazz in the Loeb Music Library.” Golden Muse: The Loeb Music Library at 50 (Harvard Library Bulletin), Vol. 18.1-2, Spring-Summer 2007: 43-48.

Recordings

• Bares W., Ray J., Rodriguez J., Page Z., and Martin E. (2025). The Core 3: Salt & Pepper. Recorded at Crossroads Studios, Asheville: Dec 2025. William Bares, piano; Justin Ray, trumpet; Jacob Rodriguez, saxophones; Zack Page, bass; Evan Martin, drums. [awaiting release]
• Bares W., Page Z., Hall A (2025). Christmas Times Are Here. Recorded at Sound Temple Studios, Nov 2025. William Bares, piano; Zack Page, bass; Alan Hall, drums; special guest Chris Rosser, oudz
• Bares W. (2020). Take Two: Jazz Duets at the White Horse. Recorded in Lipinsky Hall, UNCA: May, 2016. William Bares, piano; various guest instrumentalists.
• Bares W., Ray J., Rodriguez J., Page Z., and Martin E. (2019). The Core: Turning Point. Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios, Asheville: Aug 15-16, 2016. William Bares, piano; Justin Ray, trumpet; Jacob Rodriguez, saxophones; Zack Page, bass; Evan Martin, drums.
• Bares W., Ray J., Rodriguez J., Page Z., and Martin E. (2016). The Core. Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios, Asheville: Aug 15-16, 2016. William Bares, piano; Justin Ray, trumpet; Jacob Rodriguez, saxophones; Zack Page, bass; Evan Martin, drums.
• Bares W. (2016). You Held the Light, I Found the Sign. © 2016 BaresMusic. Recorded at Balsam Pillow Studio: 20-21 June, 2012. William Bares, piano; Mike Holstein, bass, Austin McMahon, drums.
• Bares W. and DeCristofaro J. (2015). Dialogues. Recorded at Sound Temple Studios, Apr 2015. William Bares, piano; Jason DeCristofaro, vibes.