The Rev. William Bradley Roberts, D.M.A., is Emeritus Professor of Church Music, Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) in suburban Washington. He served on faculty from 2006 to 2019. His areas of expertise include voice, conducting, composition, and contemplative studies. Before coming to VTS, he was an Episcopal church musician for thirty-three years, serving congregations in Washington, D.C., Arizona, California, Kentucky, and Texas. He has taught on the music faculties of Indiana University Southeast, Southern Seminary, Mars Hills College, and Louisville Presbyterian Seminary.
While in the Los Angeles area, Roberts sang for seven years in the professional Los Angeles Master Chorale, which has its own concert series and serves as the official chorus of the L.A. Philharmonic. He now sings bass in the Richmond Symphony Chorus in Richmond, VA.
He is a composer with works published by Augsburg-Fortress, G.I.A., Hope, MorningStar, Paraclete, St. James Music Press, and Selah. His hymns and other music for worship appear in several volumes including the hymnals of the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. He has composed on commissions from a number of schools, churches, and individuals. Gothic Records has released a recording of Dr. Roberts’ compositions, the first in a series, called “New American Choral Music,” in this case featuring the Choir of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., where Roberts was Director of Music Ministries.
Dr. Roberts’ book, Music and Vital Congregations, is available from Church Publishing Inc., New York, in print or electronic format.
Roberts was chair of the Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Church Music and was a founding board member and chair of the Leadership Program for Musicians. Currently, he is a member of the board of Melodious Accord, a non-profit organization that promotes the work of composer Alice Parker. He was on the New Music Commissions Committee for the 2010 national convention of the American Guild of Organists and serves on the AGO committee that is planning a January 2022 symposium for the heads of various denominational music organization.
Active as a leader at conferences and workshops, Roberts has made presentations in the Episcopal Dioceses of Washington, Dallas, East Carolina, Kentucky, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Southern Virginia, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Western New York.