Founder of Wisdom Tree Institute
William Eaton
William Eaton with his double-neck electric harp guitar
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William Eaton has been building one-of-a-kind guitars and multi-stringed instruments since 1971. His innovative instruments have been featured in Guitar Player, Frets, Acoustic Guitar, Experimental Musical Instruments, and many other publications. Eaton’s instruments have been displayed at the Hollywood Bowl Museum, Museum of Making Music (Carlsbad, CA), Musical Instrument Museum (MIM – Phoenix, AZ), Tohono Chul Park (Tucson, AZ), and the Winter NAMM Exhibit (Anaheim, CA) among others.
A four-time Grammy Nominee, Eaton has composed for and performed with the Amadeaus Trio, Nouveau West Chamber Orchestra and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. He also has performed as a soloist, with the William Eaton Ensemble, Earth Speak, Electric Harp Guitar Group, Ananeah, and the Nakai, Eaton, Clipman Trio. Eaton’s unique and original sound has been captured on 16 recordings for the Canyon Records label including his long time collaborations with R. Carlos Nakai and four recordings as the leader of the William Eaton Ensemble: an eclectic “world chamber fusion” group whose releases have earned Billboard Critic’s Choice awards as well as charting in the top ten World album category. Eaton's first recording, Music by William Eaton, is currently being re-released on vinyl by Morning Trip Records. In a music-related venture William and his wife Christine are founders and co-directors of Old Town Center for the Arts, a renovated historic building complex in Cottonwood, Arizona, dedicated to bringing national, international and regional performing artists to the Verde Valley since 2008. William is a founder of Sustainable Arizona and has been involved with green initiatives since the 1970's. He is one of the founders and the current Director of Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery located in Phoenix, Arizona. |
William Eaton has long been interested in ethnomusicology and our symbiotic relationship with trees, plants, and our shared natural environment. In lecture sessions he has drawn attention to our indigenous roots, oral tradition, and our intimate relationship to the landscape and communication with all living and inorganic entities. Through this passion he endeavors to pass along to students and graduates information about sustainable practices as it relates to the art of lutherie, tonewoods, global and local re-forestation efforts, and the importance of trees, not only in relation to our musical lives, but also in our everyday life, as puzzle pieces of a grand eco-system on this planet.
Wisdom Tree Institute is a further expression and vehicle for collecting and sharing information, stories, and examples of what we can aspire to in reconnecting with the qualities inherent in each of us that allows us to remember our heritage and place among the species of planet earth.
Wisdom Tree Institute is a further expression and vehicle for collecting and sharing information, stories, and examples of what we can aspire to in reconnecting with the qualities inherent in each of us that allows us to remember our heritage and place among the species of planet earth.
Instruments designed and built by William Eaton
