William J. Bennett, from Fort Mill, South Carolina is the Director of Choirs at Cane Bay High School where he was named the 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year.  At Cane Bay he serves as the Department Chair for the Fine Arts Department, the Music and Technical Director for school musicals, is a member of the School Improvement Council, and is a member of the Berkeley County School District Teacher Forum.  He is the Assistant Director of the Taylor Festival Choir.  Mr. Bennett is also the conductor of the University Chorus at the College of Charleston. Prior to coming to Cane Bay he was the Associate Director of Choirs at Wando High School for 2 years.  He serves as the SCMEA State Choral Solo and Ensemble Chair and is a member of MENC, SCMEA, ACDA and serves on the South Carolina Department of Education's Visual and Performing Arts Standards Revision Committee.  In 2007 Mr. Bennett received a Masters Degree in Music: Choral and Orchestral Conducting from Louisiana State University where he studied conducting with Dr. Kenneth Fulton, Dr. Sara Lynn Baird and Dr. Julian Shew.  While there Mr. Bennett also served as the Director of the LSU Tiger Glee Club and as a Graduate Assistant. Mr. Bennett performed as a guest conductor, choir member and soloist with the LSU A Cappella Choir, LSU Schola Cantorum, LSU Chamber Singers and the LSU Orchestra.  In 2004 he received his BA in Music: Vocal Performance from the College of Charleston where he graduated Cum Laude.  He was the inaugural recipient of the Charleston Men’s Chorus Scholarship at the College of Charleston.  Mr. Bennett studied conducting with Dr. Robert Taylor and voice with Deanna McBroom and Ross Magoulas.  At the College he also served as the Student Assistant Conductor of the College of Charleston Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers.  As a singer he has performed with the College of Charleston Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Choir and Chamber Singers, the Charleston Men's Chorus, the Taylor Festival Choir, CofC Opera and on Opera Workshop performances at the College of Charleston. He played the role of the Royal Chamberlain in Celius Dougherty’s one-act opera Many Moons on the 2004 Piccolo Spoleto Theatre Series.  Most recently Mr Bennett was a guest soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Singers in their Piccolo Spoleto performance of Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610. Mr Bennet currently resides in Summerville SC with his wife Aron Lynn, daughter Lillian and chocolate lab, Sugar.