William Sheller


William Sheller is a French classical composer and singer-songwriter.
A prominent artist of French popular music since the 1970s, William Sheller has the particularity of being one of the few singers of French chanson who has benefited from a solid background in classical music. This has influenced his repertoire with a sophisticated musical style, combining elements of classical music with chanson and symphonic rock.

Biography

Born in Paris to an American soldier and a French mother, William Desboeuf was raised in Ohio until he was 7. He then went back to France to live with his mother's parents, who worked in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Palais Garnier.
William left school at 16 to study composition with teacher Yves Margat and later harmony, fugue and counterpoint at the Paris conservatoire. He was training for the Prix de Rome but turned to pop music after hearing the Beatles.
Since then, Sheller has had a successful career both as a classical composer and as a pop singer. His works often mix both genres. For example, some of his songs include carefully crafted orchestral passages as well as instruments that are seldom found in pop music. On the other hand, his Lux aeterna is written for orchestra, choir and rock band. He has toured several times with transcriptions of his songs for voice and orchestra as well as for voice and piano quintet.
Additionally, he has also written film music and songs or arrangements for other artists.
The "Introït" from his Lux aeterna was heavily sampled for the title track from Deltron 3030, produced by Dan the Automator.

Music

Classical works