Will Copeland is a Japanese-American violinist currently studying historical performance on Baroque violin at Juilliard. As a child, he grew up listening to Baroque music every morning on the local classical music radio station. While exploring Baroque violin on the side during modern violin studies, he attended an early music masterclass in Austria and heard the music of Monteverdi sung live for the first time with an original organ; in that moment he decided to specialize in the research of the performance practice of 17th-century Italian music and has never looked back.
His previous studies on modern violin in San Francisco and Philadelphia allowed him to participate in activities such as playing in Europe on international tours, working with esteemed guest conductors in the United States, participating in prestigious summer chamber music festivals, and premiering new pieces by students and contemporary composers, all of which he continues to do in his doctoral studies at Juilliard, with historical composer/performer ensemble Nuova Pratica, and at his current home in Europe.
Will's latest research focuses on the performance practice of very early Italian opera and keyboard continuo realization throughout the 17th century. Additionally, he writes historically-informed compositions in a number of historical styles and encourages all early music specialists to do the same. His hobbies include reading strange old books, struggling to teach himself various historical 17th-century instruments and dead languages, and risking an allergic reaction by snuggling his two cats.