William MacSems Jr.

William “Bill” MacSems was a music teacher, composer, metal sculpture artist and a dedicated practitioner DIY everything. He loved to indulge his creative muse. Bill was known for his corny puns and appreciation of fastidiousness in all things.

Bill was born in New York City to William “Mac” and Rose (Castiluccio) MacSems. He passed peacefully at his home in Sacramento California on the morning of July 15, 2024, at the age of 93. He is survived by his wife Carla, his son Michael, his daughters Margaret, Molly, and Rea and step daughters Amy, Melissa and Jennifer, nine grandchildren and one great grandchild. He is also survived by his sister Wilma “Willy” (Parrish) and his brother Willard “Bill” and several cousins, nieces and nephews.

Bill’s father was an industrial welder and Bill spent much of his childhood moving around the country from job site to job site. In 1943 his family settled in Culver City, California. Bill graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in 1948. In 1950 Bill enlisted in US Air Force as a Bandsman. He was first stationed at Williams Air Force Base near Phoenix, Arizona, and later at Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma where he made some lifetime friends. After his Service, Bill earned a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching from Los Angeles State College in 1959. During the 1960's Bill studied music composition under Robert Nixon at San Francisco State, earning a Master’s Degree in 1967. In 1970-71, Bill took a sabbatical from teaching and moved his family to Vienna, Austria to study with Gottfried Von Einem at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts.

Bill married his first wife, Susan Blodgett, in 1958 and they moved their young family to Nevada City, California in 1959 where he had his first teaching job as the music instructor for Nevada City Elementary School. In 1963 his growing family moved to the Half Moon Bay, California area on the Pacific coast, when he was hired as the Half Moon Bay High School music teacher. Bill was a popular teacher and developed an award-winning marching band. Bill and Susan parted in 1975 and Bill married Carla (Deubel) Smith in 1977. Together they staged many musicals through the Pacific Opera Theater in Half Moon Bay. Most notable were South Pacific, Carousel, and the Fantasticks. Bill retired from teaching in 1986 and the family moved to Sacramento. In Sacramento Bill plunged into the arts scene by acting in plays, a supernumerary, and a chorus member of the Sacramento Opera.

Bill's life passion was music composition, which he pursued throughout his adult life. His compositions were many and varied; including music for band, orchestra, chorus, chamber music, opera, and musicals. Some of Bill's notable accomplishments are the Nevada City themed musical Never Come, Never Go, Everybody Likes Christmas, and the operas The Outcast of Poker Flat and Mardi Gras. While Bill took his work as a composer very seriously, there was a lighter side that created works like A Dog Lover’s Guide to Opera: A decisive documentation on K-9 Opera. Bill’s music has been performed both domestically and internationally with performances in Vienna, Austria and Bucharest, Romania. Some of Bill’s compositions can be heard on SoundCloud, scores for some of his music can be found at Sheet Music Direct and Score Exchange. He was amused to learn that he has a German Wikipedia page.

Bill was devoted to his wife Carla. They lived together on Rivergate Way in Sacramento for 38 years and celebrated 47 years of marriage this last February.

A Celebration of Life will be held for friends and family at the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts on Sunday September 8th at 2:00 p.m. The family ask those wishing to attend to RSVP (please leave a message below).