Biography
William Kroll was born in New York City and died in Boston, Massachusetts. Kroll greatly contributed to music during his day, both as a soloist and as a member of various intimate chamber ensembles. From 1911 to 1914 he was a student of Henri Marteau at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. During the time he was a pupil of Franz Kneisel and P. Goetschius at the Institute of Musical Art (1917–1922), he made his professional debut in New York. After completing his schooling, he toured parts of Europe, North, and Central America as a soloist and a member of the Elshuco Trio (1922–1929), the Coolidge Quartet (1936–1944), and the Kroll Quartet (1944–1969). In the midst of his performance schedule, he taught at various facilities, first at the Institute of Musical Art (1922–1938), then at the Mannes College (1943), the Peabody Conservatory (1948–1967[2]), Tanglewood (as of 1949), the Cleveland Institute of Music (1964–1967), and also at Queens College beginning in 1969. After moving to Boston he taught chamber music at Boston University until his death in 1980. Composer Awilda Villarini was one of his students.
