William P. Mahrt, beloved scholar of early music, has died

William P. “Bill” Mahrt, associate professor of music, emeritus, in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences, a giant in the field of Gregorian chant, and the longtime director of Stanford’s Early Music Singers, died Jan. 1. He was 85.

A devotee of early music, Mahrt channeled that passion into a long academic career that produced a large body of musicological scholarship. He was also a practitioner, guiding countless singers in the art of Gregorian chant and sacred liturgy and sharing the joy of that music—much of which dates to the Renaissance and beyond—with multiple generations of Stanford students. “It’s worth it,” he said of his work in 2007. “Somebody’s got to keep it. It has to be kept alive in various places throughout the world. So we’ve got to do it.”

That work’s impact continues to be felt. “Bill's extraordinary erudition, kindness, and passion for the music made each rehearsal a delight, and he always took the time to share his learning with others, whether experienced musicians or enthusiastic beginners,” said Eric Tuan, Mahrt’s former student and his successor as director of the Early Music Singers. “I'll never forget the opportunity he gave me as a college freshman to sing a solo with the professional early music ensemble The Whole Noyse. It was just one example of Bill's remarkable generosity of spirit, which has left its mark on an entire generation of scholars and musicians.” 

‘His students were some of the luckiest people in the world’

Mahrt earned his doctoral degree from Stanford in 1969 and returned in 1972 as an acting associate professor. He became an associate professor in 1980 and held that title until his retirement in 2024. Outside of academia, he became the president of the Church Music Association of America in 2005, started serving as editor of Sacred Music (the country’s oldest continuously publishing music journal) in 2006, and joined the Board of Directors of the Stanford Friends of Music in 2000, all positions he held through his retirement. 

As a scholar, he published regularly, deeply exploring the musicality and religiosity of early songs, including in an essay collection, The Musical Shape of the Liturgy (CMAA, 2012). He earned the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Newberry Library Fellowship in 1976, the St. Joseph Office of the Poor’s Albert Schweitzer Medal in 1991, and the Thomas Binkley Award from Early Music America in 2010.

“In 1998, the Stanford Chamber Chorale gave a concert at Salisbury Cathedral in the U.K., and Bill, who happened to be in residence at a college nearby, graciously offered to give us a liturgical tour of the cathedral,” said Stephen M. Sano, the Harold C. Schmidt Director in Choral Studies and professor of music in H&S. “His depth of understanding of how music, liturgy, and architecture interfaced and intertwined was a stunning revelation for our students.”

But perhaps his most beloved role was as director of the Stanford Early Music Singers. His tenure began in 1972 and coincided with the Catholic Church pivoting away from traditional chant in liturgical services. Through his more than a half-century of work, Mahrt helped preserve that music and had an impact on countless Stanford students.

“Everything Bill did was driven by pure love of early music and by an incredibly strong and peaceful faith,” said Kerry McCarthy, a musician and author who studied with Mahrt at Stanford. “His students were some of the luckiest people in the world.” 

Deep belief and a green thumb

With Mahrt’s devotion to sacred music, the sacred came before the music—literally. His interest began with his deeply held religious commitment to Catholicism, which led him to consider how to use his interest in classical music to serve his spiritual beliefs. As an undergraduate student at the University of Washington, near where he grew up in Reardan, he met several Dominican friars who practiced chant. Taken by its beauty, he became a devotee. 

Later, he became a founding member of the St. Ann Choir, a group dedicated to singing Gregorian chant, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto. A 2007 Stanford News profile suggested that, thanks to Mahrt, there was likely “more chant sung in Palo Alto than in the rest of the country, with the possible exception of monastic communities.”

On campus, he was known not only for his work with the Singers, but also for his love of orchids. “He had quite a green thumb,” said his sister Susan Perkins, who survives him, as do his brothers-in-law, several nieces and nephews, and their children and grandchildren.

A wake and funeral mass were held earlier, but the Stanford Early Music Singers' concert on Wed., March 12, will be a special program dedicated to Mahrt’s memory. The Department of Music will hold a memorial for Mahrt on Thurs., March 20, at 4:30 p.m. at Stanford's Memorial Church.