Born in Lyons, New York, in 1854, William studied with his father, the Rev. L.H.Sherwood, who founded the Lyons Musical Academy in the same year. He also was a pupil of Edward Heimburger and Dr.William Mason in New York until the age of seventeen, when he went to Berlin for further study with Theodore Kullak and Ludwig Deppe.
Later on Willliam went to Weimar to study with the great Franz Liszt. He also studied the organ and became organist at the English Chapel in Berlin.
William Sherwood's Concert Appearances
In 1875 Sherwood was soloist with the Philharmonic Symphony of Hamburg, where the orchestra saluted his performance by playing a fanfare. He was reengaged for the following year. He played at Bremen, Braunschweig, Cassel, Berlin and Weimar, and was invited to play at a Gewandhaus concert in Leipzig by Carl Reinecke.
He returned to the United States in order to perform at Boston with Kellogg, Carey and Brignoli, and this was followed by his American debut in 1876 in Philadelphia with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in front of an audience of 8,000.
William Sherwood was one of he founding fathers of the American College of Musicians, and he belonged to a number of various musical societies in New York, Boston and Chicago. He was the head of the piano department at the Chautauqua Assembly in Chatauqua, New York for some years, and the Chicago Conservatory for five years.
Toronto Conservatory of Music
His later years found him serving as an examiner at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. During this time he also toured the world as a concert pianist, receiving praise wherever he went.
It is unfortunate that artists of Sherwood's caliber lived when there was no means of preserving their artistry for others to hear and admire. To be able to hear the work of such masters as Franz Liszt, Arabella Goddard, Sigismond Thalberg, Theodore Kullak, Alexander Siloti, Clara Schumann, Anton Rubinstein and many others would be thrilling for us today.
However, one must take the word of all the critics and audience members who tried to convey, in words, the vituosity or brilliance, beauty or poignancy of each of these great pianist's performances. Some pianists, such as Teresa Carreno, can he heard on old vinyl recordings, but that is an exception.
William H.Sherwood was not above being the recipient of some terrible critical review, but apparently these did not affect his reputation too greatly. He died in Chicago in 1911 after a fine career as a pianist and teacher.
Source
Celebrated Pianists of the Past and Present A. Ehrlich, Theodore Presser, Philadelphia, 1894
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