BA, BM, MM, MLS, MA Honored for His Vast Talent in the Arts
In 1963, Mr. William C. Rorick received a Bachelor of Arts in economics and business administration at Ohio Wesleyan University. He was drafted into the military a year after he graduated, where he served in the U.S. Army until 1966. It was his time spent in Germany where he decided he wanted to pursue a career in either music or art. So, after he returned home, he attended the University of Utah where he earned a Bachelor of Music in music history and literature in 1968. Two years later, Mr. Rorick achieved a Master of Music in music education, history, and literature from Northwestern University. Continuing his education, he received a Master of Library Science at Pratt Institute in 1974, and a Master of Arts in musicology from New York University in 1982.
Furthermore, he studied painting, drawing and sculpture at institutions such as the New York Academy of Art, the National Academy of Design, the Arts Students League, the Lyme Academy, and the School of Visual Arts. Having been taught by names such as Paul W. McCormack, Michael Aviano, Ellie Bender, Bob Boroski, Jon deMartin, Daniel E. Greene, and John Howard Sanden. Mr. Rorick is most known for his lifelike portraits of famous composers and historical figures, as well as his still life and landscape works in both pastel and oil. His artwork is in private and public collections across the United States, including the New York Academy of Art, the Kent Art Association, and the Lyme Art Association.
Throughout his career, Mr. Rorick provided expertise in the fields of library science, art and music and spent much of his working life in academia before his retirement in 1996. He found success as curator of the Orchestral-Choral Library of the Manhattan School of Music between 1970 and 1974. Then from 1974 until 1979, Mr. Rorick served as an instructor at the Music Library of Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), before moving into the role of Assistant Professor and Reference Librarian within the music library, where he held the position until 1996. In addition to his primary vocation, for more than 25 years, Mr. Rorick served as a member of the Senate nominating committee and a delegate-at-large for the arts division of the Queens College Music Library. During the years spent at the college, he was given emeritus status and he also published many articles on the history of music publishing.
His illustrious career has seen him serve as the historian of the South Britain Congregational Church in 2002, where he was also a board deacon between 1998 and 2001. He is a former publicity chairperson of the Connecticut Classic Arts Inc, a former corresponding secretary of the Society of Creative Artists of Newtown, and a founding member and former secretary of the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists. Additionally, on behalf of many art organizations, he has served as a show chairperson and juror, as well as a portrait painting demonstrator.
Mr. Rorick has won many awards for his artwork, including Best in Show, in local, regional, and national art shows, and has been recognized for awards from the Allied Artists of America Inc. in 2012, the Hudson Valley Art Association, Inc. in 2019, and the Academic Artists Association in 2020. More recently, he was recognized by Marquis Who’s Who for his dedication, achievements and leadership in the field of painting and curation and was presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also been listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Art, as well as other biographical sources.
To keep up to date in his field, Mr. Rorick has active affiliations with the American Printing History Association, the American Society of Portrait Artists, the Music Library Association, the American Musicological Society, the International Association of Music Libraries, the Portrait Society of Atlanta, the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists, and the Portrait Society of America Inc. To this day, as part of the Portrait Club of Greater Southbury, Mr. Rorick continues to oversee a portrait sketch group in his studio.