About
Wilson Gault Somers
Wilson Gault Somers
Wilson Gault Somers will mark 2026 with two stunning musical milestones. In the Fall, Maestro Somers and the Music With A Mission Board will solemnly mark the 25th Anniversary of the horrific day, September 11, 2001, with a special 25th Anniversary performance of Somers’ acclaimed composition, Requiem for 9/11. The composition for Chamber orchestra, chorus and soloists, is intended to “reflect through music that shared moment of grief in our lives: embracing our emotions, facing the tragedy, and holding on to hope.” Twenty-five years later, in a time when there is so much upheaval in our world. This message and the healing power of “Requiem” resonate maybe more so than at the time of its premiere.
Earlier, on March 8, Maestro Somers will preview his latest work, The Lincoln Legacy in a special performance at St. Helena’s Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington. Composed for solo cello, narrator, choir and orchestra, this work follows in the footsteps of the events of 1862 – The Emancipation Proclamation and 1863 – The Battle of Gettysburg, The Siege at Vicksburg and on November 19, 1863 Lincoln himself giving his ‘Gettysburg Address’. The words of our greatest president are as compelling today, in a time of similar division in our country, as they were on that November afternoon in 1863. The “Legacy” is the latest example of Somers’ ability to foment healing through great music.
Somers is a native son of Delaware. He began his keyboard studies at the former Wilmington Music School, now Music School of Delaware in 1962, and continued his musical journey as a chorister and organ student at the Cathedral Church of St. John (Episcopal) Wilmington, Delaware. He attended Temple and West Chester State Universities and completed his degree work in composition and organ at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. He has more recently added graduate studies in music education and theory/composition at the Westminster Choir School in Princeton, New Jersey.
A musician in the Episcopal Church since 1977, Somers is currently the Music Director and Organist at The Episcopal Church of the Advent, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He recently completed a 30-year career as the Choral Director at the Tatnall School. His choirs have performed in international festivals in Austria, the UK and Italy. Somers is also an accomplished jazz pianist. He is known for his distinctive interpretations of the great American songbook through a long and successful career in area supper clubs and through the release of several CD recordings that echo the legacy of that music. Retired UD Jazz Music professor Dr. Michael Arenson refers to the recordings as “a must for any jazz aficionado’s collection.”
Somers’ compositions include his Mass for the Homeless (libretto co-written with his wife Joan Somers), which he conducted in 1997 and 1999 with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra at the Grand Opera House. The project has been managed by the non-profit Music with a Mission, raising thousands of dollars for Delaware homeless missions since 1990. American music icon, Dave Brubeck said of the Mass, “how well integrated the thoughts and the composition. I am sure that the concert must have been a very moving event.”
Somers has also composed soundtracks for three documentary films on Delaware visual artists in cooperation with Teleduction, Inc. and the Delaware Art Museum. All of these films have been broadcast on public television stations in the mid-Atlantic region of the US. The first, Charles Parks: Working Artist earned a Gabriel Award by the national Catholic Church. The second, Edward Loper: Prophet of Color garnered Somers an Emmy Award for his original jazz score as ‘Music Composer and Performer’. A fourth film documentary marking of the 50th anniversary of the landmark legislation Brown vs. Board of Education received national recognition at the Smithsonian in 2004.
Maestro Somers is collaborating with Delaware musician, producer and arranger Joseph Louden on small group ensemble arrangements of both Requiem for 9/11 and Mass for the Homeless that will be published through J.W. Pepper Music.
Wilson Gault Somers and his wife Joan are proud parents to several children and grandchildren who are accomplished artists and musicians, including their son Tyler who is a working singer/songwriter in Nashville with his wife Jenny.
Contact Wilson Gault Somers at director@musicwithamission.org.