School of Music Faculty
Bill Prince
Professor Emeritus, Jazz Studies
Dr. Bill Prince is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of North Florida’s School of Music. With more than 50 years as a professional musician, Dr. Prince has performed in a variety of musical settings, including big bands, symphony orchestras, jazz combos, Dixieland and swing ensembles, show bands, Broadway shows, classical chamber ensembles, and rock and roll groups.
Dr. Prince has performed with big bands including Buddy Rich, Louis Bellson, Les Elgart, Larry Elgart, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Les Brown, Xavier Cugat, Nelson Riddle, Harry James, Ray Anthony, Tex Beneke, Les DeMerle, Warren Covington, Sammy Spear, Terry Myers, and the NORAD Band. His orchestral and symphonic performance credits include the Henry Mancini Orchestra, Warsaw National Philharmonic, American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Denver Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, Ft. Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra, Boca Raton Symphonic Pops, St. Johns River City Band, Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches, Florida Orchestra, Brass Band of Central Florida, Gainesville Community Band, and St. Augustine Symphony Orchestra.
His performance credits also include work with jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Red Rodney, Ira Sullivan, Clark Terry, James Moody, Rich Matteson, Joe Pass, Jamey Aebersold, Billy Taylor, Rob McConnell, Buddy DeFranco, Duffy Jackson, Eddie Higgins, Jack Teagarden, Bill Watrous, John Patitucci, Matty Matlock, Billy Maxted, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Jaco Pastorius, Doc Severinsen, Ellis Marsalis, Flip Phillips, John Faddis, Jimmy McPartland, Dave Brubeck, Peter Erskine, Ed Mets Jr., and Terry Gibbs. He has also performed with entertainment and popular music artists including George Burns, Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney, Sandi Patty, Diane Schuur, Vic Damone, Steve Allen, The Temptations, Milton Berle, Frank Gorshin, Johnny Mathis, Jack Benny, Jack Jones, Phyllis Diller, Gary Moore, Jackie Gleason, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Eddy Arnold, Vikki Carr, Anita Bryant, Nancy Wilson, Toni Tennille, Sonny & Cher, Natalie Cole, Edie Adams, Pat Boone, and Barry Manilow.
Dr. Prince has performed at jazz events and festivals including the Central Florida Jazz Society, Space Coast Jazz Society, Jazz on the Odra in Wrocław, Poland, the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, the University of Cape Town in South Africa, Suncoast Dixieland Jazz Classic, Treasure Coast Jazz Society, Elkhart Jazz Festival, Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Szeged Jazz Days in Hungary, Swing and Jazz Preservation Society, and Gainesville Friends of Jazz. His career has taken him to all 50 states and 81 countries. He has also appeared on television programs in the United States, Canada, Japan, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador.
As a recording musician, Dr. Prince has performed on more than 50 albums, including The Best Kept Secret in Jazz. He can also be heard on Duffy Jackson’s Swing! Swing! Swing! and Buddy Rich recordings including Mercy Mercy and The Best of Buddy Rich. Dr. Prince produced his own CD, Happy Thoughts, on which he composed, arranged, and performed all of the parts. In more recent years, he has developed a cabaret show that he performs as a guest entertainer on cruise lines including Silversea, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas.
Dr. Prince is a composer and arranger whose work has been performed and recorded by professional, college, and university jazz ensembles throughout the United States and Canada. He was awarded first place in an IAJE Jazz Composition Contest. In 2000, his Concertino for Jazz and Legit Clarinets was recorded by the Warsaw National Philharmonic in Poland.
A multi-instrumentalist, Dr. Prince performs on trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, flute, clarinet, saxophone, piano, and electric bass. During his time performing with Buddy Rich, he played trumpet after initially being offered a position in the saxophone section.
Dr. Prince has taught at Florida Atlantic University, the University of Colorado Denver, St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, and the University of North Florida. He has also served as a visiting lecturer at the University of Cape Town and the University of Natal in South Africa. He has received Undergraduate Teaching and Outstanding Teaching Awards, and student groups under his direction have twice won national Jazz Band competitions.
Contact: wprince@unf.edu | www.billprince.net