Note: for the New Orleans jazz trombonist, please use William Dawson.
For the US politician and civil rights leader (1886–1970), use William L. Dawson

b : September 25, 1898 in Anniston, Alabama (USA)
d : May 2, 1990 in Tuskegee (USA)

Afro-american composer, arranger, and educator. William Levi Dawson was born in Anniston, Alabama in 1899. In 1912, he ran away from home to study music full-time as a pre-college student at the historically Black institution Tuskegee Institute (now University) under the tutelage of school president Booker T. Washington. Dawson paid his tuition by working as a music librarian and a manual laborer in the school’s Agricultural Division. He also participated as a member of Tuskegee’s choir, band and orchestra, playing several instruments, composing scores, and traveling with the Tuskegee Singers for five years. Dawson graduated from Tuskegee in 1921. In 1925, he received a Bachelor of Music in theory at the Horner Institute of Fine Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. He continued his education at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and graduated in 1927 with a master’s degree in composition. Dawson began his teaching career in the Kansas City public school system. He served as first trombonist with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 1927 to 1930, and with Redpath Chautauqua.

In 1931, Dawson organized and headed the School of Music at Tuskegee (Institute) University. He would remain on faculty for twenty five years, and during his tenure he appointed a large number of faculty members who later became well known for their work in the field. Additionally, Dawson also developed the Tuskegee Institute Choir into an internationally renowned ensemble; the choir performed for President Herbert Hoover in the White House, for President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, and the opening of Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Dawson began composing at a young age, and early in his compositional career, his Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano was performed by the Kansas City Symphony.